I have an undergraduate degree from Earlham College in History. I then taught math, computers, and natural sciences for three years in an alternative high school. I currently am attending the University of Georgia so that I can get my masters in mathematics education with the possibility of getting a doctorate. Some of my hobbies include backpacking, furniture making, and reading.
Some of my favorite mathematical/historical figures are:
Srinvasa Ramanujan--He was a self taught Indian mathematician. After working independently in India for a number of years he sent his work to G. H. Hardy at Cambridge. Hardy recruited him to come to Cambridge and Ramanujan worked at Cambridge for most of the rest of his career. Hardy rated all of the mathematicians of the time on a scale of 1 to 100. He gave himself a rating in the mid thirties and Ramanujan a rating of 100. For more information you can read a biography called The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel or click below.
William Gladstone--Gladstone was a nineteenth century British politician who was in and out of parliament from the 1840s all the way through the turn of the century. His liberal politics and policies despite being a landed British aristocrat showed his ability to stay up with the changing social tides of British politics and society as it moved away from being a country which based its wealth on land ownership to one where wealth could be acquired through the trades. For more information on Gladstone you can read a biography by Peter Stansky entitled Gladstone.