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Diane Resek Obituary
Diane was born and raised in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, to J. Verne and Johanna Resek (nee Danzinger) where she grew up with her brother Roger Resek. Diane obtained a BA from Wellesley College and then went on to earn a PhD in Mathematical Logic at the University of California, Berkeley. Diane worked as a mathematics specialist in elementary schools, developed mathematics courses for pre-school and elementary school teachers, and wrote scripts for educational mathematics films. From 1975-2005 she served on the faculty at San Francisco State University as a Professor of Mathematics Education and Logic. During her tenure Diane worked in novel ways with students and teachers, developing innovative curriculum to make math more meaningful and accessible. She helped develop a course called Math Without Fear and an entirely new high school math curriculum called The Interactive Mathematics Program. She published numerous papers and books that continue to influence how math is taught today. Diane worked diligently to increase the number of girls and women in math and science including designing a Math for Girls course and supporting Expanding Your Horizons conferences for young women. Diane was recently nominated for the California Math Council's Edward Beale Award as her far-reaching work continues to impact teachers and students.
Throughout her life, Diane was also deeply involved in various causes that she held dear. In her later years she was an avid volunteer for Food not Bombs, the North Berkeley Neighborhood Group, Ashby Village, Diminshed Capacity Group (DimCap) and Berkeley Path Wanderers. She was the center of social activities for her causes and a beloved member of her community. Diane was regularly surrounded by dozens of loving neighbors, friends, and fellow volunteers.
Diane's final party, which she organized and attended, was a celebration of her life that captured her spirit of generosity, warmth, and humor.
Diane is survived by her niece, Lisa (Jeffrey) (nee Resek) Peck, nephews Maxwell and Reuben Peck, her loving cat Jo-Jo, and her many close friends who all mourn her loss deeply.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Food not Bombs or Pancan (Pancreatic Cancer Research)in Diane's memory.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
James T Smith
August 15, 2023
In 1974 and 1991 Diane published research articles in logic that are still being referred to in others´ works in 2020. She helped me keep current on some logical questions. We attended logic colloquia at Berkeley once or twice every year from 1985 until about 2020.
Diane criticized methods of mathematics instruction that I, like most mathematicians, had encountered as a student. She taught me something very important: we didn´t learn the basics the same way as students with other main interests and talents did. It makes no sense for us to try to impart them just as they were taught to us. That should have been obvious, but it wasn´t, and it was jarring to us to realize it! Diane fostered a much broader view of learning mathematics.
In 1975, Diane introduced my wife Helen to backpacking in the high mountains in Wyoming. This became our major recreation: we returned there nearly every summer for 27 years!
Nick Jones
April 19, 2023
I knew Diane as a fellow volunteer for Berkeley PathWanderers trail crew. We worked together on rebuilding the old paths up and down the Berkeley hills. She was fun, smart, sassy, and caring. We put in a lot of steps together. When you walk those paths, think of her, pounding in the re-bar.
Anne Buckley Hill
April 8, 2023
I knew Diane only a scant 3 years, but it was long enough to find out what an extraordinary person she was. She was an inspiration to me-a model of aging with joy and vigor. We worked together at Food Not Bombs and also pathbuilding. I only wish I´d had more time with her.
Diane was the hub of so many wheels, her circles of community. Besides her presence in my life, I will miss her house parties. She loved bringing people together. I hope more people will write here, because I love learning more about her life before I met her.
Emily Hancock
April 8, 2023
What a unique woman we have lost. There will never be another like her. Emily Hancock
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Masha Albrecht
April 2, 2023
I have many distinct memories of Diane Resek: visiting my classroom and enjoying sitting with "difficult" students, throwing amazingly fun and generous parties at our winter conferences at Asilomar, and sharing wise classroom and curriculum advice with humility and great insight. I am so sorry she is gone.
Marianne Smith
April 2, 2023
Diane Resek was my friend and my boss. I worked with her and the co-directors of the NSF-funded mathematics curriculum project, Interactive Mathematics Project, as a communications manager. We remained friends, and I so valued her friendship. Diane was perceptive about many aspects of academia and education, always aware of social and political aspects of the world of mathematics and mathematics education that kept the discipline locked into a world of exclusivity. She was an original thinker, inventing problem-solving approaches to K-12 and college mathematics which would allow all kinds of learners to engage in learning and thinking mathematically.
I mourn the loss of Diane, as she truly put herself on the line; she was wholeheartedly committed to social justice, devoted to serving as a Food not Bombs volunteer, co-creating one of the first Math for Girls programs, advising and supporting teachers. She was a giver; modest to a fault. How we shall miss her.
Kate Sosin
April 1, 2023
Dearest Diane. We will all miss you at Ashby Village. Wherever you are. I hope you are at peace. Love, Kate.
Eric Hsu
March 28, 2023
Diane was a mentor to me and our work together on grants, papers and curriculum had a big impact on me as a teacher and scholar. As a writer of grants and papers, she had a true talent for getting to the heart of the matter with the most direct path, which is something I aspire to even today. As a teacher and curriculum writer, she had a real feel for student curiosity and their need for play and their need for guessing and other low-stakes ways to take part in math. I had the rare blessing of being able to co-teach with her for years, along with Judy Kysh. We planned lessons together, delivered it in front of each other and then gave each other instant feedback. As a teacher mentor and project leader, she took participant feedback without flinching, and didn´t shy away from identifying when her plans and ideas weren´t working work, directly moving on to the challenge of improving the situation. Let me end by sharing a link to a short math movie that she scripted, "The Weird Number" which I think captures some of the playful side of her mathematical personality. https://youtu.be/pSO66sL9SmY
Margaret Nye
March 26, 2023
I remember Diane as being amazingly patient with us teachers of Math. She'd give us interesting workshops after school and managed to engage us even though we were fried both mentally and physically. Those lessons worked with recalcitrant middle schoolers! I'll miss her.
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