exit

As of spring 2024, I have exited the world of academic mathematics. I'm very glad to have done so, but the exit process has been both lonely and painful. In academic mathematics we tend not to speak openly about this experience, which I think is a real disservice to our individual journeys. I have a strong desire to change this cultural norm, and this webpage is dedicated to that goal.

• In my last math lecture I gave a short farewell speech, a transcript of which you can read here.

• I am writing a memoir entitled On Life and Math. This may be thought of as something like a letter to my past self, which I hope will resonate with others as they contemplate their own lives. I am posting it serially on Substack, beginning ; the preface is here. Please subscribe to my Substack if you'd like to receive updates.

• I'd very much like to destigmatize the act (and indeed the contemplation) of exiting academic mathematics, and to facilitate communication and understanding across the boundary between academia and "industry" (a term referring to "the rest of the world" that as far as I can tell nobody outside of academia actually uses). Here are two ideas that I may eventually enact.
  • I'd like to host periodic "office hours" on Zoom, perhaps once every month or two, to connect mathematicians who've left academia with mathematicians who are considering it.
  • I'd like to collect a centralized database of fellow exiteers, linking to their own ongoing online presences or contact information. I'm imagining having a once-a-year announcement of the latest cohort, to give it the air of a graduation celebration and also to manufacture a canonical cadence for folks to check the database and reach out as they wish.
  More information may appear here eventually. If you or somebody you know would like to be included in either or both of these, please reach out!