Clockwise from top left: Dave Patrick, Naoki Sato, Valentin Vornicu, Richard Rusczyk
Photo taken March 12, 2007 at our warehouse in Alpine, California

AoPS Incorporated was founded by Richard Rusczyk in 2003 to create interactive educational opportunities for avid math students. Richard Rusczyk is one of the co-authors of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks, author of Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Algebra and Introduction to Geometry textbooks, one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the Director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search. He was a participant in National MATHCOUNTS, a three-time participant in the Math Olympiad Summer Program, and a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner (1989). He graduated from Princeton University in 1993, helped inaugurate ESPN's SportsFigures program, and worked as a bond trader for D.E. Shaw & Company for four years. AoPS marks Richard's return to his vocation - educating motivated students.

Dave Patrick joined AoPS in 2004. He earned the sole perfect score on the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME) in 1988 and was a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner that year. He also attended the Research Science Institute (RSI) in 1987 and the Math Olympiad Summer Program in 1988, and finished in the top 10 of the Putnam exam in 1991. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 1992 and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at MIT in 1997. He wrote Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Counting & Probability textbook.

Vanessa Rusczyk is the Chief Financial Officer for AoPS Incorporated. She also does marketing and design work, and handles much of the administration of the USA Mathematical Talent Search. She graduated from Princeton University in 1993. She has a cat named Pi.

Valentin Vornicu joined AoPS in 2004. He founded the MathLinks site for Olympiad students in 2002. He was first or second prize in the Romanian National Olympiad 1997-2002 , and was a member of the Romanian International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team in 2001 and 2002, winning a bronze medal in 2002. He has coached numerous succesful Olympiad students in Romania and abroad and authored the widely used Romanian text "The Maths Olympiad from Challenge to Experience". He is also one of the instructors of the Romanian IMO Team since 2003, and proposer of a number of problems at the different math Olympiads. He is a graduate of the University of Bucharest, Mathematics Department, and holds a Masters Degree in Algebra and Number Theory from University of Bucharest.

Naoki Sato joined AoPS in 2005. He won first place in the 1993 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad, and represented Canada at the 1992 and 1993 International Mathematical Olympiads, winning a bronze and silver medal, respectively. He has also served as deputy leader for the Canadian IMO team in 1997 and 2002. Naoki earned a Bachelor's in mathematics at the University of Toronto, and a Master's in mathematics at Yale University. He is originally from Toronto, Canada.

Joshua Zucker joined AoPS as a part-time instructor in 2007. He discovered his love for number theory at Dr. Arnold Ross's summer program at Ohio State University a bit over 20 years ago. Joshua has been invited to the US Math Olympiad Summer Program, a member of the first US Physics Olympiad team, and a top-10 scorer on the Putnam. He holds a BS in physics and an MS in mathematics from Stanford, as well as an MS in astrophysics from UC Berkeley. He has taught at levels ranging from summer camps for gifted elementary school students through remedial arithmetic at community college. He currently teaches at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, CA, writes for MATHCOUNTS, and is the proud father of three children. In what spare time remains from those and other activities, he enjoys cooking, juggling, bicycling, and playing Go.

Ashley (Reiter) Ahlin has loved math as long as she can remember. In 1987, she was the first female to win a medal at National MATHCOUNTS, placing third. In high school, she was on the US Chemistry Olympiad team, attended RSI, and was first in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She later served on the MATHCOUNTS problem writing committee and spoke at the at the national awards banquet. She has taught at the high school and college levels, as a guest lecturer in WOOT, and in summer programs for all age levels. She finished her Ph.D. in math at the University of Chicago in 2001, and now she gets to stay at home with her two sons.

Dave, Naoki, and Richard frequently teach free problem solving classes at the University of California at San Diego for students in the San Diego area. For more information about them, click here.