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In their lively and entertaining weekly discussion of issues related to higher education, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger explore the topics of higher education, lifelong learning, and exercising the brain. Ed and Jennifer practice what they preach, too, by introducing math puzzlers and brain teasers to keep listeners on their toes.

Higher Ed: Navigating A Math-y Career Pivot

A listener wrote in to "Higher Ed" about his decision to pursue a Ph.D. in pure mathematics after studying classical piano performance and working as a pianist. In this episode of KUT's podcast Higher Ed, KUT's Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger discuss becoming a mathematician later in life and the joys and challenges of making a career shift.

Focus, passion and commitment – those are some of the qualities Ed says are necessary to successfully pull off a career pivot to mathematician or to pursue any new field. As a matter of fact, Ed says, "talent is secondary to commitment" when making this kind of change. Click here for more of the discussion and to hear the latest puzzler. It's a "classic" that actually gets asked in some job interviews.

This episode was recorded Aug. 10, 2017.

For all of the Higher Ed episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Jennifer Stayton is the local host for NPR's "Morning Edition" on KUT. Got a tip? Email her at jstayton@kut.org. Follow her on X @jenstayton.