By Joan Nelson
The Scene staff
Forest Park has a new math chair.
James Munden, 30, of Columbia, Ill., has replaced Seth Daugherty.
“My philosophy is not to memorize rules, but to see and implement the actual mechanics behind the rules,” he said.
Munden has been teaching pre-algebra, analytic geometry and calculus at Forest Park since 2010. He formerly served as a graduate assistant in math at St Louis University, where he is working on a doctorate.
Daugherty served as Forest Park’s math chair for two years before stepping down this month for personal reasons. He still is teaching classes as an assistant professor.
“I hope and trust students will continue to feel well served by the math department,” he said.
The math chair is responsible for scheduling classes, hiring and evaluating faculty, overseeing curriculum decisions and addressing student and faculty concerns.
Continuing education student Jenn Bock, 38, of St. Louis, had Munden for a calculus class.
“Mr. Munden is a good teacher,” she said. “He’s able to teach how to break down the concept of the math problem for student to understand.”
Munden has been married for a year to wife Katie, a high-school math teacher.
In their free time, they enjoy hiking and visiting national parks, such as Death Valley, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon.
“I’d like to visit all the national parks in Alaska,” Munden said.