Anand Kumar is an Indian mathematician and founder of Super 30. People Magazine heralded him as 'People's Hero'.
Biju Mathew, FRCPC, is a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. After completing a medical degree in India, he obtained his postgraduate training in the United Kingdom before settling down in Canada to pursue his career. He is a teacher and researcher, and has been involved in the care of the mentally ill through his professional career. He is an avid advocate for the underprivileged and those marginalized in society, including the homeless and the stigmatized. His activism and work in multiculturalism is well recognized. He continues to provide leadership roles for his profession and works tirelessly for charitable causes. His work resonates well with the work of Anand Kumar of Super 30, which led to Dr Mathew's authorship of Mr Kumar's biography.
Mathew resides with his wife, Grace, in Maple Ridge, a beautiful suburb of Vancouver. He wishes to thank the members of his family, including his sons, Nick and Richie, and their spouses, Preetpal and Charmaine, sister, Jolly, and her husband, Vijay, for their support; and his grandson, Emery, who provides him with unlimited happiness. He enjoys playing squash and expresses himself through oil paintings.
Anand Kumar, a mathematics prodigy, defied all challenges to set up one of the most successful and innovative teaching initiatives in the world-Super 30.
Born in Chandipur Bela, Patna, Anand secured a place in Cambridge University but couldn't attend because he had no money and sold papads in the evenings instead. He dealt with his own disappointment by setting up an innovative school in 2002 to prepare underprivileged students for the IIT JEE examination. Super 30 has an astonishing success rate and on an average, twenty-seven to twenty-eight of the thirty students crack the exam every year.
Stirring and heart-wrenching, this is the extraordinary story of a visionary who has elevated these bright sparks and, through education, given them hope to rise above crippling poverty.
