Committed Teachers Serving Students

Meet Gary Lawrence.

Gary is the Coleman Fung Chair for Mathematics and the Assistant to the Head of School at Mustard Seed School.  He is also the parent of three alumni:  Katie (‘99), Molly (‘01) and Man Ting (‘03).  

Have you always been a math teacher?
Before I joined Mustard Seed in 1993, I was a Managing Director for J.P. Morgan, running the ethics and 
business practices task force in New York.  During a 19 year career, I was based in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong.  I left college knowing that I would either be a banker or a math teacher.  I started out as a banker, but when I returned to Hoboken from Hong Kong, I received the larger calling to teach math. 

How was the change from banking to teaching?
It was much harder than I thought!  I think that a lot of people imagine that teaching is easy. I am 
grateful that I was trained in pedagogy and school culture by the very best mentors at Mustard Seed.  Here there are high 
academic standards and high expectations of both 
teachers and students.

What do you hope for your students?
I hope that my students become problem solvers who are able to work with others and persist when the answer is elusive.  I want them to strategize.  I hope that they think broadly about who a mathematician is and what a 
mathematician does.  I want them to realize that they are already mathematicians!

What are your favorite moments in the classroom?
I love it when the questions flow.  “How can there be a 
number that you can’t write down?” “Is zero even or odd?”  “What is improper about an improper fraction?”  I have a great deal of fun when there is time and space for 
intellectual curiosity. 

Not only do you teach at the school, but you also give financially, why?
Our girls attended Mustard Seed and received the best imaginable foundation for high school, college and life.  My wife, Lori, and I want other children to have that chance. And, as the Assistant to the Head of School, I work with the school finances. I know firsthand how the school stretches every resource at its 
disposal. I know that every dollar we give will be used well, and its impact will be multiplied many times over.

Mustard Seed is an amazing part of God’s kingdom.  Lori and I want to be involved in every way—money, energy, commitment, and time.