Instructor's Introduction

Hello, and welcome to MTH 84, Introduction to $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$! Soon you will be creating .pdf and .html files with mathematical content like these examples: $$\begin{aligned}x+1&{}=3\\x&{}=2\end{aligned}\qquad x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}\qquad \sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^2}=\frac{\pi^2}{6}$$ You'll also be creating professional-looking .pdf files that don't necessarily even have math content.

My name is Alex Jordan, and I'll be your instructor for this class. I have been a Math instructor at Portland Community College since Fall of 2009, and I've taught a range of PCC classes from MTH 20 (Basic Math) through MTH 261 (Linear Algebra). Please feel free to address me as Alex, Dr. Jordan, or Mr. Jordan. I am originally from Oregon, but my family was in the military. I grew up living in many places, both in the U.S. and abroad. As an adult I lived in Budapest for two years between college and grad school. I have a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Oregon, where my research was with abstract algebra. But now I focus on teaching and supporting other teachers with technology. I'm also the WeBWorK administrator for PCC, and I serve on both PCC's Degrees and Certificates committee (overseeing revisions and additions to our degree and certificate offerings) and PCC's Open Educational Resources steering committee (exploring how we can expand use of OER's at PCC). In my spare time I brew beer, work on my house, and make mathematics-inspired art. Wait, I don't have any spare time anymore, since my daughter was born in May 2014.

I have been using $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ since the year 2000 for my undergraduate thesis paper, and I have gradually adopted it for almost all of my electronic document needs. There is no substitute for $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ when a document contains Mathematical content. One of the goals that I have in this class is to share with you some of the enthusiasm that I have for $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$, and show you why much of the scientific community use it exclusively. At home, I use a Mac and either edit .tex files using TeXShop or vim from the Terminal command line. I can either use TeXShop to compile the .tex files, or compile them from the Terminal command line using pdflatex. At work I use a Windows PC and edit and compile .tex files usinge TeXnikCenter. Since the Mac Terminal is so similar to Linux, I have familiarity with using $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ on all three major operating systems.

Your next step should be to continue reading this welcome module, and in particular study the syllabus. Enjoy the course, and I look forward to giving you feedback on your work!