It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Donald G. Weinert, P.E., F.NSPE, the “founding father” of MATHCOUNTS. Don passed away on May 10, 2022 at the age of 91.

When Don was executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers, he was an instrumental part of the team that proposed a nationwide middle school program to help build achievement in and excitement for math. He worked with CNA Insurance and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to make that program—MATHCOUNTS—a reality and was a signer of our Foundation’s articles of incorporation. 

Don was on the board of directors from 1984-1994 and then served as chair of the board through 2004. Since then, he has remained a Board Member Emeritus and the namesake of the $20,000 scholarship given to the MATHCOUNTS National Champion each May. Don’s energetic and collaborative leadership helped MATHCOUNTS grow to be the premier national middle school math enrichment and competition program it is today. His work has touched the life of every student who has participated in MATHCOUNTS—well over six million now.

We are sincerely grateful for Don’s legacy, one we will honor by continuing to help students find their path to math, as he took so much pride in doing. We hope his story inspires all our students who dream big and the people who help them bring those dreams to fruition.