Biography

Zhanerke Temirgali is a mathematician and educator who loves sharing the playful, surprising, and creative side of mathematics with students. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and has spent many years teaching and thinking about how to make challenging mathematical ideas feel approachable and exciting.

In her classroom, Zhanerke encourages students to ask lots of questions, try unusual approaches, make mistakes, and figure out why something works rather than simply memorizing how to do it. She especially loves those “aha!” moments when a problem that seemed impossible suddenly clicks.

When she isn’t doing math, Zhanerke enjoys traveling, exploring the Bay Area, staying active, trying foods from different parts of the world, and spending time with her family. She is always up for a good puzzle, an interesting question, or an unnecessarily long discussion about the best way to solve a problem.