My name is Ben Stucky, and I’m a professor of math and computer science at Beloit College. My gender pronouns are he/him/his. My last name rhymes with “cookie,” and you can call me Ben. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both my parents’ families are Swiss-German Mennonites who settled in the midwest in the late 19th century. I attended college at a Mennonite liberal arts college in central Kansas called Bethel College, where I studied math and computer science. After that, I lived with a host family in Kenya for a year where I learned Swahili and volunteered with an organization that placed computers in primary and secondary schools. I completed my PhD at the University of Oklahoma, where I studied theoretical math and became interested in teaching. Lately, I have been interested in branching out and working on some projects which cross over into computer science, including creating a ranking system and alignment classifier for social deduction games such as Among Us.

My partner, Madeleine, and I live in Loves Park, Illinois, with our son (Jonah), cat (Shirley), and dog (Buzzy). In addition to teaching and research, my hobbies include home improvement, running, skateboarding, playing piano (poorly), live music (I miss this one since the pandemic started…), playing mafia and hanabi online, and the mathematics and computer science of video game speedrunning.

I love working at Beloit College because of the opportunities it gives me to get to know my students personally. I am happiest when I am with students in the math lounge, either talking about homework, working on robots with the robotics club, learning about another project they are working on, or just talking about anything else that interests them! I also love working on independent research projects with students, where I am frequently surprised by, and learning new things from, my students. I recognize my many privileges and am passionate about making everyone feel like they belong in math/CS at Beloit College regardless of gender, race, sexuality, and other identities. I’m always working to be a more approachable and informed adviser to my students, and I encourage you to come say hi any time!