Occupation: I am a professor of mathematics at WestConn, specializing in the history of mathematics. I’ve been teaching there since 1986.

Family: My wife, Theresa, is a PhD in engineering and teaches at SCSU. Our son, Philip, is 24 and is preparing to be an English professor. Victoria is 14 and a freshman at Newtown High School She has won several “best in show” in fabric arts at the Bridgewater Fair.

Pets: We have a “micro-panther” — a cat, actually, who says her name is Kitty-Kitty. She’s black and likes to stalk things like a panther.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We moved here from New Milford in 1990.

What do you like to do in your free time? I run a lot. Over the past 35 years, I’ve averaged 50 miles a week. This year, only about 30 miles a week. I like to bike, too. It’s a fun way to get around. And I love my research. I research the history of math. I read original sources from the 1700s at Yale New Haven. It’s a privilege to be able to read somebody’s own copy of a book.

Do you have a favorite book? There’s a guy named William Dunham who writes wonderful history of math books. We’ve worked together and he’s a real classy guy.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? I like going to London. My wife and I took our honeymoon there 28 years ago, and it was a favorable first impression. I like the museums and libraries, and she likes the shopping and museums. We never run out of things to do. We’ve been to London about ten times. And Hyde Park is a good place to run, for a big city.

What is the best thing about Newtown? For me, it’s that it’s easy to find a nice place to run. You have all the attractions of a small city, but you can get out in the country and run past cows and fields and mailboxes and tractors in just a few minutes. I grew up on a farm, so I think we live in the city, but my wife grew up in Brooklyn, so she thinks we live in the country.

Do you have a hero? The 18th Century mathematician Leonard Euler. This year is his 300th birthday, so I’m going all over the country to talk about his life. He’s the one that did the most to make the sciences mathematical, and he did it being blind.

Do you have a personal philosophy? I try to do things I enjoy and pick what I enjoy so that it’s somewhat useful.

What is the most important lesson you have ever learned? Be patient and have fun.