Today we feature a remarkably honest conversation with Dr. Frank Farris, Professor of Mathematics and Chair at Santa Clara University.  Frank is a fourth generation Californian who grew up in the Los Angeles area. He attended Pomona College as an undergraduate and earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He studied geometry and, over time, that original mathematical interest expanded into a rich study of mathematics and art. He is the author of Creating Symmetry: The Artful Mathematics of Wallpaper Patterns which he published in 2015 with Princeton University Press. He has served as editor of Mathematics Magazine and is currently a member of the MAA’s Council on Publications and Communications. In this conversation, above all else, Frank talks openly about what it means to belong to yourself, he also offers a guide for writing, and discusses the importance of a “home for your heart.” So, please join us as we talk with Frank.

Frank’s website: https://math.scu.edu/~ffarris/

Frank’s book, Creating Symmetry: The Artful Mathematics or Wallpaper Patterns: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691161730/creating-symmetry