{{Short description|American prison non-profit}} {{use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox organization | name = Prison Mathematics Project | abbreviation = PMP | founders = {{ubl|class=nowrap|Christopher Havens| Walker Blackwell}} | leader_title = Executive director | leader_name = Ben Jeffers | established = {{Start date and age|2020}} {{Efn|The PMP was incorporated in 2020,<ref name="z593" /><ref name="v212" /> although Havens started the PMP as a project at his prison in 2016.<ref name="cbpjp" />}} | focus = Mathematics education and research in US prisons | type = 501(c)(3) non-profit | tax_id = 85-4162338 | website = {{url|prisonmathproject.org}} }}
The '''Prison Mathematics Project''' (PMP) is an American prison education organization that promotes the study of mathematics. It pairs prisoners who have an interest in mathematics with outside mentors.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Havens | first=Christopher | title=The Prison Mathematics Project | journal=Math Horizons | volume=29 | issue=1 | date=2022-01-02 | issn=1072-4117 | doi=10.1080/10724117.2021.1940507 | pages=34 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10724117.2021.1940507 | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref> Participants may be of any skill level, with some working towards a certificate of High School Equivalency and others performing original research. It also prepares learning materials and holds Pi Day events at prisons. It is not a credit-earning prison-to-college program, although participants may be simultaneously engaged in such programs. Its founder, Christopher Havens, began studying mathematics while in solitary confinement, and founded the organization while still incarcerated. Stated goals of the PMP include reducing recidivism and challenging stereotypes about prisoners.<ref name="b919">{{cite web | title=About Us | website=Prison Math Project | date=2025-12-19 | url=https://www.prisonmathproject.org/about-us | access-date=2025-12-27}}</ref><ref name="jpp" />
In 2022 the PMP had 450 volunteers, who worked with 171 prisoners in 27 states.<ref name="v212" /><ref name="x575" /> As of December 2025, the PMP had over 350 participants in the mentorship program, with more attending in-person events such as Math Circles and Pi Day.<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=prisonmathproj |number=2001417433513382028 |title= Our work is centered on mentorship that goes beyond just math. The heart of our work is human flourishing. These relationships restore a positive outlook, strengthen skills, and enrich the lives of everyone involved. With over 350 active mentorships this year and more on the way, we’d love for you to join us. Send us an email today to get matched!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet|user=prisonmathproj |number=2001798716387160474 |title= Mathematicians + intriguing problems + a supportive community = transformation.This year, PMP organized seven Math Circles in correctional facilities in Canada, Florida, Illinois, North Dakota, and Washington. Led by mathematicians from nearby universities, these sessions empower incarcerated participants through collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking, foster meaningful engagement, and show that math can be a powerful bridge to personal growth.}}</ref><ref name="f778">{{cite web | last=Wex | first=Sabina | title=Math can be a path to success after prison | website=The Hechinger Report | date=2025-03-07 | url=https://hechingerreport.org/math-can-be-a-path-to-success-after-prison/ | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref>
==History== In 2010, Havens and an accomplice shot and killed a man within the Capitol State Forest near Olympia, Washington over a drug-related dispute.<ref name="x571">{{cite web | title=Two arrests made in fatal shooting at Capitol Forest | publisher=KOMO-TV | date=2010-03-31 | url=https://komonews.com/news/local/two-arrests-made-in-fatal-shooting-at-capitol-forest | access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref> A high-school dropout, he had been addicted to drugs, and mostly homeless throughout his adult life. Havens was convicted of murder in 2011 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.<ref name="v997">{{citation | last=Cerruti | first=Marta | editor-first1=Nehal | editor-last1=El-Hadi | title=An inmate's love for math leads to new discoveries | work=The Conversation | date=2020-05-14 | doi=10.64628/aam.c6fy5cdjs }}</ref><ref name="o236">{{cite web | title= Christopher Robin Havens Custody Record | website=VINELink | url=https://vinelink.vineapps.com/person-detail/offender/354368 | access-date=2025-12-27}}</ref> He became involved with prison gangs and,<ref name="cbpjp">{{cite web | last=Bistryski | first=Chris | title=Finding a New Life in Math | website=Prison Journalism Project | date=2022-12-14 | url=https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2022/12/14/finding-a-new-life-in-math/ | access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref> after an altercation with another prisoner, was placed in solitary confinement for a one-year period.<ref name="z593" /><ref name="piday" /><ref name="jpp" />
Havens recalled idolizing cryptographers in spy movies during his childhood, comparing them to Gandalf.<ref name="jpp" /><ref name="b885">{{cite web | last=Couch | first=Christina | title=Meet the scientists building a prison-to-STEM pipeline | website=Nova | date=2021-04-19 | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/prison-education-stem-science-incarceration-criminal-justice/ | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref> In solitary, Havens started doing sudoku puzzles to pass the time, and then received a packet of math problems. He became "hooked", staying up late solving problems, and began teaching himself basic mathematics. He said during this time he spent 10 hours a day studying mathematics, while also taking part in an "Intensive Transition Program".<ref name="jpp" /><ref name="z593">{{cite web | title=How a convicted killer's passion for math inspired him to change his life | publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | date=2020-10-15 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-oct-15-2020-1.5763055/how-a-convicted-killer-s-passion-for-math-inspired-him-to-change-his-life-and-others-1.5753905 | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref> Having finished the program and exhausted the resources available at the prison library, in 2013 Havens wrote to Mathematical Sciences Publishers to request information about subscribing to the ''Annals of Mathematics'' and about mathematicians who he could correspond with. A mathematics professor at the University of Torino in Italy, Umberto Cerruti, agreed to mail Havens a problem to solve. Havens mailed back a {{Convert|4|ft}}-long sheet of paper with a single lengthy formula. Cerruti suspected Havens was a crackpot, but the formula turned out to be correct, and Cerruti began discussing a problem in continued fractions with Havens. Cerruti sent math books to Havens, but they were blocked until Havens negotiated with the prison administration.<ref name="v997"/> Their collaboration culminated in a paper published in ''Research in Number Theory'' in January 2020.<ref name="d606">{{cite journal | last1=Havens | first1=Christopher | last2=Barbero | first2=Stefano | last3=Cerruti | first3=Umberto | last4=Murru | first4=Nadir | title=Linear fractional transformations and nonlinear leaping convergents of some continued fractions | journal=Research in Number Theory | volume=6 | issue=1 |year=2020 | article-number=11 | issn=2522-0160 | doi=10.1007/s40993-020-0187-5 | url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40993-020-0187-5 | access-date=2025-12-27 }}</ref> In May 2020, Cerruti's daughter Marta (a professor of engineering at McGill University) wrote an article for ''The Conversation'' about Havens.<ref name="v997"/> The article went viral,<ref name="jpp">{{cite journal | last1=Havens | first1=Christopher | last2=Cerruti | first2=Marta | title=Desistance, Anomalies and Rabbit Holes: A Transformative Experience from Inside Out | journal=Journal of Prisoners on Prisons | volume=31 | issue=1 | date=2022-07-04 | issn=0838-164X | doi=10.18192/jpp.v31i1.6435 | pages=10–19 | url=https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ottawa/index.php/jpp/article/view/6435 | access-date=2025-12-27}}</ref><ref name="x753" /> attracting international media attention and a mention in ''The College Mathematics Journal''.<ref name="t640">{{cite web | last=Freund | first=Alexander | title=Murderer solves ancient math problem | publisher=Deutsche Welle | date=2020-06-22 | url=https://www.dw.com/en/murderer-solves-ancient-math-problem-and-finds-his-mission/a-53895884 | access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref><ref name="q143">{{cite web | last=Delbert | first=Caroline | title=How an Inmate Made a Math Discovery in Prison | website=Popular Mechanics | date=2020-05-18 | url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32502357/inmate-math-discovery-prison-continued-fractions/ | access-date=2025-12-27}}</ref><ref name="m929">{{cite journal | last1=Leise | first1=Tanya | last2=Straffin | first2=Philip | title=Media Highlights | journal=The College Mathematics Journal | volume=51 | issue=5 | date=2020-11-12 | issn=0746-8342 | doi=10.1080/07468342.2020.1826770 | page=397 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07468342.2020.1826770 | access-date=2025-11-15|author-link1=Tanya Leise}}</ref>
After moving to minimum security in 2015, Havens sought ways to share his transformative experience studying mathematics.<ref name="cbpjp" /> Biweekly meetings with other prisoners in his prison were the beginning of the PMP. In 2017 he organized the first Pi Day at Monroe Correctional Complex, with Cerruti and two other professors of math in attendance.<ref name="piday">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617031039/https://doc.wa.gov/news/2017/03172017.htm|archive-date=2021-06-17|url=https://doc.wa.gov/news/2017/03172017.htm|title=Easy As Pi: Inmates Find Motivation Through Mathematics|date=March 17, 2017|first=Rachel |last=Friederich|work=Washington State Department of Corrections}}</ref><ref name="x158">{{cite journal | last1=Caire | first1=Luisella | last2=Cerruti | first2=Umberto | last3=Gordon | first3=Gary | title=Pi Day Behind Bars: Doing Mathematics in Prison | journal=Math Horizons | volume=26 | issue=1 |year=2018 | issn=1072-4117 | doi=10.1080/10724117.2018.1467633 | pages=24–25 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10724117.2018.1467633 | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref><ref name="x753">{{citation | last=Cerruti | first=Marta | editor-first1=Nehal | editor-last1=El-Hadi | title=Pi Day: Celebrating the life-changing role of math programs in prisons | work=The Conversation | date=2021-03-11 | doi=10.64628/aam.efj4ntp9n }}</ref> A Texas teenager who had read about Havens online, Walker Blackwell, began exchanging messages with him. At first Havens was apprehensive about working with Blackwell, and made Blackwell ensure that his parents were aware of their conversations. Blackwell convinced Havens to extend PMP's activities to other prisons before his own release, and the two incorporated the Prison Mathematics Program as a non-profit in 2020.<ref name="z593" /><ref name="v212">{{cite web | title=Teen Volunteer Teams Up with Prisoner to Reduce Recidivism Using Math | website=Points of Light | date=2022-10-26 | url=https://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/teen-volunteer-teams-up-with-prisoner-to-reduce-recidivism-using-math/ | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref><ref name="cbpjp" /> At the time, Havens was completing an associate degree by mail through Adams State University.<ref name="v997"/> Blackwell left the project during college and was later named a recipient of the 2025–2027 Voyager Scholarship from the Obama Foundation.<ref name="u783">{{cite web | title=Walker Blackwell | website=Obama Foundation | date=2024-04-10 | url=https://www.obama.org/programs/voyager-scholarship/2025-2027/walker-blackwell/ | access-date=2025-12-27}}</ref>
Havens began studying computation theory with Amit Sahai, who is also an advisor to the PMP. Initially, the PMP set up a cloud-based service called the "PMP Console", with which Havens and other participants could send computer code to an email address and it would return the results. Drawbacks to this system included transactional charges for sending emails from prison and restrictions against sending coded messages. At the time, prison technology firm Securus Technologies was exploring adding a console-like feature to its education app.<ref name="x575">{{cite web | last=Tillinghast-Raby | first=Amory | title=Pioneering Advanced Math from Behind Bars | website=Scientific American | date=2023-06-02 | url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pioneering-advanced-math-from-behind-bars/ | access-date=2025-11-15}}</ref> PMP then developed an app, CodePraxis, for JPay and Global Tel Link tablet computers. It gives prisoners access to Python, JavaScript, and LaTeX environments, and provides a series of courses. It was given a trial run at the Clarence Correctional Centre in Australia, and {{as of|2025|11|lc=y}}, was soon to be launched at the Maine Correctional Center.<ref name="m395">{{cite web | title=The Trials and Tribulations of CodePraxis | website=Prison Math Project | date=2025-12-19 | url=https://www.prisonmathproject.org/blog/trials-tribulations-codepraxis | access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref>
In December 2025, the Clemency and Pardons Board unanimously recommended that Havens' sentence be commuted;<ref name="s147">{{cite web | title=Waiting, Not In Vain | website=Prison Math Project | date=2025-12-19 | url=https://www.prisonmathproject.org/blog/waiting-not-in-vain | access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref> however, governor of Washington Bob Ferguson decided against clemency.<ref name="s225">{{cite web | title=Statement by Christopher Robin Havens |date=January 13, 2026 |work=Prison Math Project| url=https://mcusercontent.com/cc813af2e27da0885fec0c84a/files/4c403080-4eab-54f4-a677-2c10f1ed6940/Public_Statement_CH_January_2026.pdf | access-date=2026-01-14}}</ref>
== See also == Historical mathematicians who performed research while in prison include: * André Bloch (mathematician) * Chandler Davis * Évariste Galois * Bertrand Russell (''Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy'') * Andre Weil
==Notes== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == Mathematical works by Havens: *{{cite journal | last1=Havens | first1=Christopher | last2=Barbero | first2=Stefano | last3=Cerruti | first3=Umberto | last4=Murru | first4=Nadir | title=Linear fractional transformations and nonlinear leaping convergents of some continued fractions | journal=Research in Number Theory | volume=6 | issue=1 | date=29 January 2020 | article-number=11 | issn=2522-0160 | doi=10.1007/s40993-020-0187-5 | url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40993-020-0187-5 | access-date=2025-12-27 }} *{{cite journal | last1=Havens | first1=Christopher | last2=Shell-Gellasch | first2=Amy | title=Fibonacci Meets the Pharaohs: The Decomposition of Multiplication | journal=Math Horizons | volume=30 | issue=1 | date=2022-09-03 | issn=1072-4117 | doi=10.1080/10724117.2022.2087381 | pages=24–27 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10724117.2022.2087381 | access-date=2025-11-15|author-link2=Amy Shell-Gellasch}} *{{cite book | last1=Elsner | first1=Carsten | last2=Havens | first2=Christopher Robin | title=Number Theory in Memory of Eduard Wirsing | chapter=Diophantine Analysis Around [1, 2, 3, ...] | publisher=Springer International Publishing | publication-place=Cham | date=2023 | isbn=978-3-031-31616-6 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-31617-3_9 | url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-031-31617-3_9 | access-date=2025-11-15 | pages=119–143}} *{{cite journal | last1=Elsner | first1=Carsten | last2=Havens | first2=Christopher Robin | title=On Natural Leaping Convergents of Regular Continued Fractions and an Application to Linear Fractional Transformations | date=2023-11-06 | doi=10.5281/ZENODO.10075884 | url=https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10075884 | access-date=2025-11-15 |journal= Integers: Electronic Journal of Combinatorial Number Theory}} *{{cite book | last1=Elsner | first1=Carsten | last2=Havens | first2=Christopher Robin | title=Continued Fractions: A Modern and Classical Journey into the World of Siegel's Continued Fractions | publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland | publication-place=Cham | date=2025 | isbn=978-3-031-99545-3 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-99546-0 | doi-access=free | url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-031-99546-0/1 | access-date=2025-11-15 | page=}}
By other PMP participants: *{{cite journal| last1=Kagey | first1=Peter | last2=Keehn | first2=William | title=Counting tilings of the n times m grid, cylinder, and torus |year=2024 | url=https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/journals/JIS/VOL27/Kagey/kagey6.pdf |journal=Journal of Integer Sequences |volume=27 | access-date=2025-12-26 | issn=1530-7638 }} *{{cite journal | last1=Christiansen | first1=T J | last2=Cunningham | first2=T | title=Singularities and Asymptotic Distribution of Resonances for Schrödinger Operators in One Dimension | journal=Asymptotic Analysis | volume=143 | issue=1 |year=2025 | issn=0921-7134 | doi=10.3233/ASY-241928 | pages=619–640 | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3233/ASY-241928 | access-date=2025-12-26}}
Category:Mathematics education organizations in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:Prison charities based in the United States Category:2020 establishments in the United States