By Liza Bondurant and Dana Franz, MTEP Mississippi co-leaders
As many of you know, our dear colleague Bonnie Oppenheimer is retiring, though we are still double-checking the math because it doesn’t seem possible that someone with her energy has reached that milestone.
Bonnie started out as a double major in mathematics (advisor: Richard Little) and music performance on oboe at Baldwin Wallace University (then Baldwin-Wallace College). She went on to study mathematics in the MAT program at the University of Chicago with Zalman Usiskin. After teaching high school and middle school mathematics for many years in Illinois, Texas, and Mississippi, Bonnie earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Mississippi State University and a doctoral degree in secondary mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin, under Charlie Lamb. In her search for a greater effect, she went from teaching her own students to giving workshops with current teachers through the Delta Mathematics Project based at Delta State University to guiding new teachers who love to teach mathematics at Mississippi University for Women.
Bonnie has been a steady, joyful force in secondary mathematics teacher education in Mississippi for decades, shaping teachers, programs, and colleagues with equal parts of brilliance and kindness. As leaders of the Mississippi State MTEP, we have had the privilege of working alongside her for many years, and we can say with confidence that no meeting was ever too long when Bonnie was there to keep us grounded and laughing. She has guided generations of future teachers through the beautiful messiness of learning to teach mathematics, and she has done it with a signature blend of wisdom, curiosity, and good humor. Bonnie’s presence has elevated our work in ways that will continue to ripple through classrooms across the state and beyond. Even as we celebrate with her, we are also quietly wondering who will now remind us to breathe during accreditation season.
Bonnie’s retirement marks the end of an era, but it also gives us a moment to appreciate the depth and consistency of her service to our community. She was the colleague who always said yes when the rest of us were still thinking about maybe, the mentor who helped new faculty feel capable long before they felt ready, and the friend who made long meetings feel like fun rather than work. We have admired the way she continually pushed herself and all of us to keep our focus on improving opportunities for teachers and students, even when the path grew complicated. With Bonnie, every challenge felt solvable, every puzzle had a solution, and every success was celebrated with genuine enthusiasm.
We are grateful for the years of collaboration, laughter, and shared commitment to better mathematics education. Bonnie, thank you for everything you have given to this field and to all of us. We hope retirement treats you kindly, though we fully expect you to keep popping up at conferences just to make sure we’re still doing things correctly.