Professional Information

I retired from Western July 1, 2023. I began teaching at Western Illinois University since the Fall of 1994.  It was an honor and joy to teach here at Western and be on the faculty. After graduation from Doane College (1979) I taught high school mathematics for ten years.  I was also the head boys basketball coach for nine years at Centura HS in Cairo, NE.  I hold two Master's degrees (one in Mathematics Education from University of Nebraska-Kearney, and one in Mathematics from Colorado State University).  My PhD (Educational Mathematics) is from the University of Northern Colorado (1994). I was a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Philosophy at Western Illinois University for 29 years. From 1979 to 2023, I taught mathematics and mathematics education courses for 44 years. I taught mathematics courses and teaching methods courses for prospective and practicing teachers. My research interests are mental math, student understanding of the function concept, multiplicative reasoning (including proportional reasoning and rates), educational uses of technology, logic for middle school, student understanding of fractions, decimals, and percents, problem solving; and teaching mathematical and higher-order reasoning while seeing the beauty of mathematics. Recent awards: Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America, Spring 2023; Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching with Technology from the College of Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, April 2019; Award for Academic Excellence in Enhancing Learning with Technology from the Provost, Western Illinois University, October 2019; inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society 2015; Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America, March 2023.

Personal Information

I consider myself a Christian, family member, teacher, athlete, and scholar.  I believe that children and students, Pre-K through graduate school, are important (see Children Are ABC's) and represent our future. I enjoy living in Macomb (past weather: Wunder or NOAA) and being part of the Wesley UMC family. I vacation at Lake Okoboji (water levels, okobojipics, okobojiadmin) in Iowa. Information about my wonderful family is below. In summer 2007 I went to Germany with my family. We went to Berlin. It was a moving experience for me to be there with the Berlin Wall down and able to walk under the Brandenburg Gate. I'm involved with Academic Year in America, a foreign exchange agency. My favorite book is The Story of the Other Wise Man. More links of interest: Happiness Coin, Three Things, Sung Graces. More of my off-campus interests are listed below. names form; men's ministry form; teachers form; Preachers form; new WIU grad form responses; Stories Database form. My personal website domain is drjimo.net. I'm retiring, on June 30, 2023, after 44 years of teaching. I taught 10 years in the public schools, 5 years at the university level while in graduate school, and 29 years at WIU. It has been an honor and a pleasure being a teacher.