Bramson is fully aware that many people don’t share his enthusiasm for his area of study.

“Math can be pretty boring and downright scary,” he’s quick to admit. “Lots of my students had bad experiences in high school. My job is to give them confidence — and to help them like math.”

Bramson uses a variety of techniques to get his students excited about math.

“I tell my students I got my master’s at night, so I understand what they’re trying to do,” he says. “And I make sure to temper my expectations to reality. At the same time, I try to inject some humor into class discussions.”

Evidently Bramson’s teaching style is working. Students often wait until he’s teaching to take a required course, and he frequently gets “repeat offenders” who sign up for more classes with him. (“Of course, I bribe them,” he jokes.) What’s more, he gets the satisfaction of turning around people’s attitudes toward math.

“People come in scared to death, and walk out with confidence,” he says. “What could be better than that?”