People often see mathematics as just a set of skills, like doing arithmetic or factoring a quadratic. But they don’t often think of math as relevant for experiencing joy and wonder. Yet math is a deeply human enterprise that can meet basic human longings, such as for beauty and exploration and truth, and can build virtues like persistence, creativity, an expectation of enchantment. In an AI era, skills are less important than the virtues built by a great education. In this talk, Dr. Su will also recount how an incarcerated man—now his friend—has helped him see this more clearly than ever before.

Francis Su, Professor of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College