John Mighton

John Mighton, OC born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on October 2, 1957, is a Canadian mathematician, playwright and best-selling author, who is known for his work supporting children's math. Mighton founded JUMP Math as a charity in 2002 and developed the JUMP Math program to address student underachievement in math. Mighton has won national and international awards for his contributions to both Canadian theatre and math education. Education Mighton earned a BA (Philosophy) at the University of Toronto (1978) and a MA (Philosophy) at McMaster University (1984). He completed a PhD (Mathematics) at the University of Toronto and was awarded an NSERC fellowship for postdoctoral research in knot and graph theory. He is a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences and has taught mathematics and math education at the University of Toronto. Mighton has also lectured in philosophy at McMaster University. Career Mighton's plays have been honoured with the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama, three Dora Awards, and the Chalmers Award. His plays include Possible Worlds, The Little Years, Body & Soul, Scientific Americans, A Short History of Night, and Half Life. In 1997, Mighton played the role of “Tom”, an assistant to the math professor, in the critically acclaimed film, Good Will Hunting.