We are about communication, but not just any communication:
secret
communication!
So if you want to learn how to send a secret message to a special someone
or how to figure out the one that has been sent to you, you are at the right place.
We designed this site to accompany our book, The Cryptoclub: Using Mathematics to Make and Break Secret Codes, but you can enjoy the site without the book. [click here to start the main page]
Janet Beissinger is Research Assistant Professor at the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her research has been on the effects of Standards-based curriculum on student achievement. She has also published several research papers in combinatorics, a branch of discrete mathematics. Dr. Beissinger taught graduate and undergraduate mathematics at UIC from 1981-91 and has been working with pre-college mathematics curriculum for over fifteen years. She was a co-author and senior curriculum developer of Math Trailblazers, the NSF-funded K-5 elementary mathematics curriculum developed by the TIMS (Teaching Integrated Math and Science) Project. She taught seventh grade in the National Teacher Corps and has had extensive experience visiting mathematics classrooms.
Vera Pless is Professor Emerta of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at UIC. She is the author or co-author of more than 115 research papers on coding and discrete mathematics. One of her papers (1977) was among the first papers published in cryptography. She has organized many scientific conferences and given many talks on Codes and Cryptography. The third edition of her text "An Introduction to the Theory of Error-Correcting Codes" came out in 1998. This edition received the highest rating possible in the 2000 M.A.A. Library Recommendations for Undergraduate Mathematics. She was the editor (with W. C. Huffman) of the "Handbook on Coding" which was published in 1998. In 2001 she won a university-wide award for excellence in teaching and a housing faculty recognition award.
Daria Tsoupikova is Assistant Professor at UIC's school of Art and Design, specializing in educational multimedia. Her artwork and research include electronic visualization, interactive animation, virtual reality art, and computer graphics. Prior to joining UIC, she taught at the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and the Moscow State Academy of Social Sciences. She has presented her work at many national and international exhibitions.