A Salute to Arup and Pampa Mondal

^{[1] [2]}Before Thanksgiving, we gave a special tribute to Mathnasium of The Woodlands for being the first to reach the 300 students milestone. We wanted to express our gratitude to the Opalkos and their team. And we wanted to echo and expand on a comment made by Chris Lee. Chris had said that that The Woodlands have been “leading the way and showing what is possible!”

Now in a post-Thanksgiving tribute, we want to celebrate the breathtaking achievement of Arup and Pampa Mondal. You had read earlier ^[3] that their center in Ellicott City, MD also climbed over the 300 students threshold. This happened shortly after the Woodlands had reached the milestone: proof indeed that when paths of possibility are established, others race down them.

But what many don’t know is that the Mondals have opened two other centers, one in the last year and one the year before that. The Ellicott City center—the Mondals’ first—is just 3 years old. All three centers have been growing stridently. The achievement of high enrollment while building multiple centers is a testament to the values, commitment and capabilities of the Mondals. They represent a second generation of leadership at Mathnasium: those who inspire us by showing us that by building on the foundation of pioneers, new frontiers can be conquered.

The Mondals both have masters’ degrees in Engineering (Arup had an impressive 20 year career in high tech; Pampa has a degree in math). They try to hire younger versions of themselves: Instructors from the fields of engineering and math. All share a passion for math and a passion for making a difference in the lives of each child they teach. The result is that the Mondals are not only shaping a team in their own image, they are creating students in their own image: students who will have the capability to engineer a brighter future for themselves and for others.