M. Vali Siadat


M. Vali Siadat is an Iranian-American mathematician, the Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Richard J. Daley College.

Professional career

Siadat completed his Ph.D. thesis in harmonic analysis at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1990 under the supervision of professor Yoram Sagher. He then worked on and completed a second doctorate, Doctor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1997, with a focus in mathematics education, once again with collaboration and under the supervision of professor Sagher. He is a distinguished professor of mathematics at Richard J. Daley College and an adjunct professor of mathematics at Loyola University Chicago. Siadat has taught mathematics courses for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics track, as well as those in liberal arts and prospective math teachers, most of his academic life. He is the co-developer of the award-winning Keystone model of teaching and learning in mathematics.
Siadat has authored or co-authored an extensive number of publications in mathematics and mathematics education journals. He was for eight years the Director/Co-Principal Investigator of nearly $800,000 grant from NASA to train pre-college students in Chicago for careers in engineering and sciences. He was also the Director/Principal Investigator of nearly $100,000 grant from Gabriella and Paul Rosenbaum Foundation to expand and disseminate the Keystone Project from Daley College to other colleges and universities in Illinois.

Awards and honors

Siadat has won numerous local, state, and national awards during the many years of his long teaching career. These include “The 2019 Award for Impact on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics” from American Mathematical Society, “The 2009 Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics” from Mathematical Association of America, and “The 2005 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education Illinois Professor of the Year Award.” He considers educating more than 10,000 students over 40 years of his teaching profession, his crown accomplishment.

Selected publications