- I was born in 1961 in Sellersville
Pennsylvania, USA during a snowstorm.
- I grew up in that area doing the normal kid stuff,
graduating
from Pennridge High School in 1979.
- Fall 1979 - I started at Bethel College in Kansas,
where my
grandfather had been an English Professor and my grandmother
postmaster.
- Summer 1980 - I dropped out of college and spent a
year as a
volunteer with Mennonite VS, working on home repairs for elderly and
poor, running a recycling center etc.
- 1984 - I graduated from Bethel College with majors
in Chemistry,
Mathematical Sciences and Physics.
- 1984-85 I taught precalculus, statistics, physics
and Fortran at
Bethel College and Heston Junior College
- Summer 1985 - Rode bicycle around parts of Europe
and visited my
sister who was teaching Chemistry in Nigeria. Left on the last plane
out
of the country while a coup occurred and started grad school two days
later.
- Fall 1985 - Started graduate school at RUTCOR
(Rutgers Center
for Operations Research), doing the normal things - courses, TAing,
teaching,
gardening, playing frisbee and research.
- Summer 1990 - Got married and promptly moved 300
miles away from
my wife.
- Summer 1990 - finished my PhD under Fred S.
Roberts. Title - Odd
forests, reversing numbers and discrete representations of interval
orders.
- 1990-1992 Spent time as JWY research instructor at
Dartmouth
College.
- Fall 1992 - started at Lehigh University, one year
as visiting
assistant professor followed by five years as Assistant Professor of
Mathematics. This was particularly exciting since after 7
years, my wife and I finally lived in the same state.
- August 1993, we purchased a house in Rosemont, PA
and joined the
suburban ranks, doing time on electrical, plumbing, painting, gardening
and likes
- Spring1995. Our son Ian Arthur Hunt-Isaak is born.
Sleep and
free time become things of the past, but its great.
- Fall1997. Our second son Noah Cushman
Hunt-Isaak is
born.
- April 1998. I'm promoted to associate professor at
Lehigh with
tenure. Stop doing research (that last bit is just a joke, but some
people actually asked me if I would stop working on research. I do what
I do because I enjoy it, not to get a paycheck.)
- August 1999, we buy our second house and move 1/2
mile to a new
county and new school district. Its right on the train tracks (so we
literally live on the Main Line for those of you who know the term from
suburban Philadelphia) and accross the street from Villanova University
stadium so we hear lots of activities. The `new' place has lots of
flowers and trees and also has needed lots of repair work. We added to
the kitchen after a year so that more than one person could stand in it.
- November 2004. We travel to Chongqing China and
adopt Anna Rose Megui
Hunt-Isaak a few days before her first birthday. She was born fall
2003.
- Spring 2005, promoted to full professor at Lehigh.
Keeping busy
with teaching, research, advising graduate students etc.
- Now - I'm still teaching at Lehigh and working on
discrete
mathematics problems
A description from late 1990's appended in 2005
(from late 1990s):Here is my family -- I am the larger of the two males
pictured, the smaller Ian Arthur Hunt-Isaak (born spring 1995) does
not yet have his own home page. He is much larger now. We also have a
second son Noah Cushman Hunt-Isaak born fall 1997. Some day I
will put a newer photo here. My spouse, Melissa Hunt, is the largest of
the three females pictured. She has a PhD in clinical psychology from
the University of Pennsylvania (where she also won various teaching
awards). She now is associate director for the clinical PhD program at
Penn, teaching a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses,
supervising practicum students and helping run the clinical training
program. She also works part time as a private therapist. She does not
have a home page, but has an email address
(mhunt@cattell.psych.upenn.edu). The dog, Vashti
and the cat, Pacem also do not have electronic addresses.
As you might infer from the pictures, I have a life outside of
mathematics. I currently spend most of my non mathematics time changing
diapers, playing with rattles, plumbing and doing electrical work. I'm
happy to discuss other things that I used to have time for: biking
(went across US and spent time exploring Europe a long time ago);
hiking; frisbee; Mennonites, Quakers and conscientious objection;
Kansas; etc.
(update in 2005): Our family now has 3 children, Ian and Noah
mentioned above. They are now 10 and 7 and active in all sorts of
things. I spend a fair
bit of time driving the minivan to practices, playdates etc. In
November 2004 Melissa and I traveled to China and adopted a little
girl, who we have
named Anna Rose Megui Hunt-Isaak. She was born fall 2003 and
found the next day on the door of the Zhongpingxiang government in
Xiu Shan Tuija Nationality and Miao Nationality Autonomous County. We
adopted her in November 2004 in Chongqing city. Despite the many
sleepless nights and other complications of having a baby, the whole
family has been blessed by her presence. She is a wonderful addition to
our family
and she is already growing up, beginning to get more and more words,
climbing (on the tables etc) and in general becoming a toddler.
Our pet situation has also changed. We now have two dogs, Shadow
and Vashti, who is now 13, a new cat Luna, a guinnea pig, pork chop, 2
snakes
Reggie and Emma and a bunch of fish both in a tank and a pond. See more
photos on my home page or
family photos here (for example, if
you want to see my now gray hair,
at least what is left of it)
Updated May 2005.
Garth Isaak home page
