Donald T. Barry

Title: Math Instructor
Department: Mathematics
PA Start Date: 1980

Degrees
BA, Carleton College
MDiv, Yale Divinity School

Profile
Simply put, Don Barry loves a good math problem. Ever since he started teaching in 1973, he's been involved in math contests either as a problem writer or organizer. Currently, he's the main author of the end-of-the-year contests of the Massachusetts Association of Mathematics Leagues (MAML) and the New England Association of Mathematics Leagues (NEML). For 14 years from 1995 to 2008 he was the head author of the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) and currently he's helping ARML develop IRML, an expansion of ARML via the Internet to sites in other countries. He's written 5 books, all collections of problems, he's given a number of talks at conferences, often sharing his love of trapezoids or invariance, and he organizes the mathematical prize exams given at Phillips Academy each year. He values developing opportunities for students to experience their own creative powers in mathematics, a satisfying task. He and math instructor Pat Farrell help run an enthusiastic math club that meets once a week and takes part in a number of math contests with delightful success. Barry helped found the club when he arrived at Phillips in 1980.

Barry graduated from Carleton College in 1970 with a major in philosophy and then received a Rockefeller fellowship that sent him to Yale Divinity School where he earned an M.Div degree in 1973. Rather than become a minister, he opted to teach mathematics in Turkey to Turkish students, and found his true calling. After seven years, he and his family returned to the United States in 1980 to teach at Andover. He's run a dorm, coached boys' and girls' cross country, boy's JV2 basketball, and golf. Drawing on his international experience, he co-founded the Model UN club in 1980 and served as its advisor for 20 years. He and his wife, Roxy Barry, Director of the Summer Opportunities Office at Phillips, have three children who are PA alums: Ivan '94, Heather '97, and Kezi '02.