Photo by Nina Subin
Ian Scheffler's first book, CRACKING THE CUBE, about the world of competitive Rubik's Cube solving, was published by Simon & Schuster in the fall of 2016.
The book has been featured in articles and reviews by such publications as SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, THE NEW YORK POST, and THE TORONTO STAR.
In addition to appearing on GOOD MORNING AMERICA and NPR'S MARKETPLACE, Ian has spoken at GOOGLE, Johns Hopkins University, numerous radio stations around the country and abroad, and appeared as a guest on History’s THE TOYS THAT BUILT AMERICA.
Ian has written for The New Yorker, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications.
He attended Columbia University, where he graduated with honors and a degree in English, as well as the City University of New York, where he studied English Education and Computer Science Education.
A former New York City Teaching Fellow — and one of the first licensed Computer Science teachers in New York state — Ian has taught in New York City public schools, the New York City Writing Project, and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth.
His former students, many of whom were the first in their families to attend college, have matriculated at schools across the country, from Columbia University to the University of Virginia.
Several of his English students founded and ran Journals of Color, a literary magazine for Bronx teenagers that was recognized with the Princeton Prize in Race Relations.
Ian currently lives in Philadelphia, and works at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania.