Pat McKeague
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Pat  McKeague earned his B.A. in Mathematics from California State University, Northridge and his M.S. in Mathematics from BYU. He began his teaching career at Lompoc High School in 1970. During summers in Lompoc, he taught elementary school. In 1973 he became a full-time instructor at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California. His first book, Elementary Algebra, was published in 1979, with a price of $12.95 to students. In 1985 he resigned his full time teaching position at Cuesta College and began his tenure as a part time instructor, and full-time textbook author. In 1995 he became a lecturer at Cal Poly State University, teaching calculus and differential equations. Mr. McKeague is very active in the mathematics community, speaking at regional and national mathematics conferences throughout the year. He was on the writing team for the American Mathematics Association for Two-Year College (AMATYC) Beyond Crossroads project, which set the standards for mathematics instruction at the two-year college. In 2007 he was awarded the AMATYC Presidential Award for his service to the two-year college mathematics community. In 2015 he was awarded the Herb Gross Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and commitment to community college mathematics education.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: I have had a wonderful, varied teaching career, from teaching elementary school classes, all the way through to freshman calculus at the university. I am best suited to community college teaching. My heart is in the developmental mathematics courses. Don't get me wrong, I love to teach calculus, but I identify more closely with the developmental math students, and I think I am more effective there. Throughout my career I have been extremely lucky to have students that always impressed me with their willingness to improve their position in life through education. My teaching colleagues have been patient and helpful, and have done their best to make me a better teacher. My friend Patrick Clevenger was a great role model for me in my first teaching job, and Gil Stork was the person that I tried to emulate when I got to the community college. When I needed someone to show me how to look at things from a business point of view, Fred Russell was the person I relied upon. My publishing career has been a dream, and I have been extremely lucky to have worked with some of best editors in the business: Stephen Guty, Michael Johnson, Nancy Evans, Liz Widdicombe, Amy Barnett, Rich Jones, and Anne Scanlan-Rohrer to name only a few.