Meet our Team!
We are educators and professionals.
Children and parents.
We are people of this planet, just like you.
Ari Ryan
Co-Founder
Ari works with Anh to ensure MathTowne provides the most advanced and complete services as possible. He graduated from UCSB with a degree in Applied Mathematics and has over 15 years working as a Medical Device Engineer. A lifelong passion for botany and horticulture has led him to obtain a certificate in Nutritional Farming and a deep understanding of soil, plant, and human nutrition. One of his primary goals is to enlighten our students with important nutritional knowledge in order to help them be more successful, happy, and healthy in their lives.
Anh Towne
Co-Founder
Anh sets the vision and oversees the day-to-day operations at MathTowne. She received her B.S. in Applied Mathematics and M.S. in Statistics & Data Science from Cal Poly Pomona. After starting her career in data science, she quickly realized that teaching is her true passion and has now spent more than 10 years tutoring all levels of math and most standardized tests. Anh also creates the visual content and digital curriculum to enrich MathTowne’s educational resources. Her goal is to make learning fun, engaging, and approachable.
Maggie Austen
Math & Chemistry Instructor
Maggie is an experienced math and chemistry educator with over 10 years of teaching experience at the university, middle school, and high school levels. She holds a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry from McMaster University, a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, and a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She is credentialed to teach middle and high school math and chemistry and also holds a credential in special education. Maggie began tutoring when she was in middle school and continued tutoring and teaching throughout high school and college. During graduate school, she discovered her passion for teaching as a teaching assistant before going on to spend approximately 10 years teaching at Canadian universities, primarily freshman chemistry. For the past several years, she has taught math and chemistry at local high schools in San Jose and has extensive experience working one on one with students with different academic levels and learning needs.
Marx Akl
Senior Physics & Math Instructor
Dr. Marx Akl brings a wealth of tutoring expertise and mentoring experience in Data Science and Machine Learning to his role as a dedicated physics and math senior instructor. With a profound academic background, including a PhD and master’s in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from University of Southern California, and dual bachelor degrees from Western Michigan University, Dr. Akl’s journey into education has been shaped by over a decade of teaching diverse subjects and mentoring students. He is committed to creating a supportive learning environment where students can thrive, fostering collaboration and hands-on learning experiences. Beyond academia, Dr. Akl is an avid researcher and scholar, continuously pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge in his field. He also enjoys mentoring aspiring physicists and mathematicians, sharing his passion for knowledge with the community.
Anqi Shao
Senior Math Instructor
Dr. Anqi Shao holds a Ph.D. in Financial Mathematics and a Master’s in Mathematics – Statistics from the University of Florida. With over a decade of experience as an Adjunct Lecturer at institutions like the University of Florida, San Jose State, and Santa Clara University, he has taught a broad range of math courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. He also has over five years devoted to tutoring and mentoring middle school and high school students. Dr. Shao finds immense joy in the journey and firmly believes in the non-linear nature of learning, emphasizing the importance of cultivating good habits for lifelong benefits. In his free time, he likes to play golf, guitar, violin, and an ancient Chinese chess game named Go. He also enjoys reading, traveling, skateboarding, and eating Chinese buns.
Jeff Chen
Math & Physics Instructor
Jeff holds an M.S. degree in Statistics from UCI and a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics (Honors Program) from UCLA. During his college years, he discovered his exceptional talent for tutoring and started teaching calculus and physics to his peers. He served as the president of the De Anza College mathematics club, where he lectured on higher mathematics. With well over a decade of experience in education, Jeff has honed his craft, teaching test prep courses for various exams, such as the SAT, SAT Subject Tests, ACT, ISEE, SSAT, and AP. He has taught students of all ages, from kindergarteners to graduate students. Jeff’s passions include pure mathematics, machine learning, and creating mathematical art using Topology and Monte Carlo methods. When not teaching, he freelances as a statistical consultant and trades equities and commodities.
Jason Morgan
College Essay Expert & Test Prep Instructor
Jason has twenty years of experience in the field of private tutoring and college counseling. He currently assists people on four different continents, and his clients have achieved acceptance to almost every exclusive university in the U.S. and Europe, including the Ivy League, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Sciences Po, HEC, Bocconi, Cambridge, and many others. He regularly writes and updates educational books and curriculum, including several Princeton Review AP titles, and has published 40+ titles as an author and ghostwriter. He began his career at The Washington Post and later worked in script development in the Hollywood feature film industry.
yuki kimura
Program Coordinator & Math Instructor
Yuki is a skilled educator with a passion for teaching all levels of mathematics. She holds a degree in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University and has gained valuable experience working in a variety of professional roles, including DNA sample processing and digital marketing account management. However, her true calling was discovered through her work teaching at an after-school program, where she found her passion for educating students. With five years of experience as a professional math tutor, Yuki is dedicated to providing a supportive and welcoming learning environment that empowers students to work at their own pace and ask questions. Beyond her work as a tutor, Yuki enjoys exploring new culinary experiences and transcribing her favorite music on the piano.
Truccey Nguyen-Do
English Instructor & College Counselor
Truccey enjoys tutoring students in History and English. She received her BA in History and minor in Japanese at San Jose State University. Truccey has over 7 years of experience tutoring SAT English, AP exams, and academic writing to students of all ages. Truccey also assists students in planning and organizing their college admissions process where she provides guidance on researching universities and navigating the application procedures. After graduation, she worked as both English Teacher and a Sales Marketer for a private school in Japan. After her time working abroad and in-state, she is experienced with working with students at all levels of English familiarity. She enjoys traveling and exploring new places, while also taking time for rest and relaxation at home with Hannibal the cat.
Wedge Martin
Advisor for Software & Education Technology
Wedge works for Amazon Web Services advising their larger enterprise customers. He is the co-founder of Badgeville, a startup that raised $40 million in its first two years and pioneered Gamification in Silicon Valley. He also co-founded Arqetype in 2013 -acquired by Vivo Technology, which has offerings in the educational space using game psychology to motivate students to achieve higher goals in academia and in their personal lives. Being a proud parent, Wedge is passionate about the ways that technology can be used to positively drive student learning across many learning platforms.
