# Kirby Urner
Kirby Urner (born 1958) is an American educator, programmer, and Buckminster Fuller scholar known for his work in mathematics education, programming, and making Fuller's ideas accessible through modern technology and education.
## Quick Facts
```yaml
personal:
birth: 1958
birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
nationality: American
education:
- [[Princeton University]] (BA Philosophy, 1980)
- [[St. Peter's College]] (Graduate Studies, 1981)
occupation: [Educator, Programmer, Curriculum Developer]
known_for:
- Python education
- Synergetics exploration
- Fuller scholarship
- Educational technology
current_role: Course Instructor at Clarusway
```
## Biography
### Family Tree
```mermaid
graph TD
A[Father - Urban Planner] --> C[Kirby Urner]
B[Mother - Writer/Activist] --> C
C --- D[Dawn Wicca]
```
### Life Timeline
```mermaid
timeline
title Life Events
section Early Life
Birth in Chicago : 1958
Rome, Italy : 1960s
Manila, Philippines : 1970s
section Education
Princeton : 1976-1980
St. Peter's : 1981
section Career
St. Dominic Academy : 1981-1983
CUE : 1985-1990
4D Solutions : 1990-present
Saturday Academy : 2006-present
```
### Geographic Movement
```mermaid
graph LR
A[Chicago] --> B[Rome]
B --> C[Manila]
C --> D[Princeton]
D --> E[Jersey City]
E --> F[Portland]
style A fill:#f9f,stroke:#333
style F fill:#9ff,stroke:#333
```
## Professional Life
### Career Progression
```mermaid
gantt
title Career Timeline
dateFormat YYYY
section Education
Princeton :a1, 1976, 4y
St. Peter's :a2, 1981, 1y
section Teaching
St. Dominic Academy :a3, 1981, 2y
CUE :a4, 1985, 5y
Saturday Academy :a5, 2006, 18y
section Technology
4D Solutions :a6, 1990, 34y
BFI Webmaster :a7, 1995, 5y
```
### Influence Network
```mermaid
mindmap
root((Urner))
Technology
[[Python Community]]
[[Open Source]]
[[Web Development]]
Education
[[Mathematics Education]]
[[Programming Education]]
[[Saturday Academy]]
Philosophy
[[R. Buckminster Fuller]]
[[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]
[[Synergetics]]
```
## Contributions
### Major Works
1. [[Synergetics Education]]
- Integration with Python
- Mathematical visualization
- Educational curriculum
2. [[Python Programming Education]]
- Curriculum development
- Saturday Academy courses
- Open source advocacy
3. [[Fuller's Legacy in Technology]]
- BFI web presence
- Digital preservation
- Modern applications
### Innovation Map
```mermaid
mindmap
root((Innovations))
Education
[[Python Curriculum]]
[[Math Visualization]]
[[Synergetics Teaching]]
Technology
[[4D Solutions]]
[[Web Development]]
[[Educational Software]]
Research
[[Fuller Studies]]
[[Philosophy]]
[[Digital Archives]]
```
### Publication Timeline
```mermaid
timeline
title Major Contributions
section Early Work
Philosophy Thesis : 1980
Math Education : 1981
section Technology
4D Solutions : 1990
BFI Website : 1995
section Education
Python Teaching : 2006
Synergetics : ongoing
```
## Teaching and Research
### Educational Focus
1. Mathematics Education
- Geometry through calculus
- Synergetics integration
- Visual mathematics
2. Programming Education
- Python fundamentals
- Computer graphics
- Open source tools
### Research Areas
1. Synergetics
- Tetravolumes
- 4D geometry
- Quadray coordinates
2. Educational Technology
- Curriculum development
- Digital tools
- Online learning
## Current Projects
### Initiatives
1. [[Saturday Academy Programs]]
- Python programming
- Computer graphics
- Mathematics education
2. [[Online Education]]
- Clarusway instruction
- Digital curriculum
- Remote learning
## Legacy
### Impact Areas
```mermaid
graph TD
A[Urner] --> B[Programming Education]
A --> C[Fuller Studies]
A --> D[Math Education]
B --> E[Python Community]
C --> F[Synergetics]
D --> G[Visual Learning]
```
### Knowledge Transfer
```mermaid
graph LR
A[Philosophy] --> B[Technology]
B --> C[Education]
C --> D[Student Impact]
D --> A
```
## Resources
### Archives
- [[4D Solutions Archives]]
- [[BFI Digital Archives]]
- [[Saturday Academy Materials]]
### Online Presence
- GitHub: @4dsolutions
- Medium: kirbyurner.medium.com
- Substack: kirbyurner.substack.com
- YouTube: Educational content
- Academia.edu: Princeton profile
### Bibliography
1. Technical Works
- Programming guides
- Educational materials
- Curriculum documents
2. Philosophical Works
- Wittgenstein thesis
- Synergetics papers
- Educational philosophy
## References
1. grunch.net/4dsolutions
2. GitHub profile
3. LinkedIn profile
4. YouTube presentations
5. Academic writings
## Notes
- Python Software Foundation member since 2009
- BFI Synergetics Explorer Award recipient (1991)
- First BFI webmaster
- Quaker background influences teaching approach
## Tags
#person #educator #programmer #fuller-scholar #philosopher #curriculum-developer