Staff and Contact Info

Program Director

Scott Hallyburton — scott_hallyburton@unc.edu, (919) 685-5545

For more information, please email scott_hallyburton@unc.edu and chapelhillmathcircle@gmail.com.

Lead Teachers

• Mobius Noodles: Maria Droujkova and Dmitri Droujkov
• Beginners Group: Dilip Barman
• Elementary Group: Dorian Varney
• Intermediate Group: Scott Hallyburton
• Advanced Group: David Yavenditti

About the Staff

Maria Droujkova focuses her research and development efforts on learning communities, informal education, online education, advanced mathematics for young children, and game design. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from NCSU, and an M.S. in Mathematics from Tulane. Maria is the founding director of Natural Math, an educational design, consulting, and publishing company. Her approach to teaching focuses on easy complexity (such as calculus for five-year-olds), openness, and kindness. She co-authored Moebius Noodles and Avoid Hard Work, popular books with innovative math activities for parents, teachers, and math circle leaders.

Dmitri Droujkov holds an M.S. in Mathematics and works in software design and development, in particular educational software and games. He attended a math circle as a child, where he loved figuring out patterns, finding interesting solutions, and sharing mathematics with others. He now works with systems that support mathematics education, and co-founded Natural Math with Maria.

Dilip Barman has been teaching math since high school. He particularly likes working with kindergarteners and early elementary school students, but really all ages including adults, who enjoy sharing his joy of math. He helped to start the Mathematics Institute of the Triangle in Chapel Hill in 2022. He teaches math at Stanford Math Circle and math summer camps at the NC School of Science and Math. Dilip has a degree in Mathematical Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and Computer Science graduate degrees from Brown University and Marist College.

Dorian Varney is an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill, majoring in math and working towards a teaching certificate. Dorian has been involved with the Chapel Hill Math Circle since 2023.

Scott Hallyburton is a math PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has a BS in math from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Scott has been leading classes for the Intermediate Group at the Chapel Hill Math Circle since 2021.

David Yavenditti has been teaching the Advanced Group at the Chapel Hill Math Circle since it started in 2016. He is a former math major at UNC-Chapel Hill and has been involved in many areas of math outreach, including the Carolina Math Club and Julia Robinson Math Festivals.