More Than Math: Russ Petricka’s 50 years at Carleton

Did you know? Before settling into its current sun-drenched, two-story home in the Center for Math and Computing (CMC), the Math Skills Center was a traveling troupe! It began in Leighton Hall when Leighton still served as a science building. The walk-in lab then moved to Willis, spent seven years in an annex behind Laird (temporarily built to house married students after World War II), and even had a stint in Scoville. Through all of this migration, one constant remained: Russ Petricka, the beating heart of the lab and its unmistakable frontman.

2025 marks Russ’s 50th year at Carleton. Originally arriving on campus under a Funds for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) Grant, Russ knew early on that he’d found something special. 

“I didn’t think I would ever leave really. Right when I started, I thought this is going to be what I want to do for as long as I continue working,” Russ recalled, right thumb tracing circles against his other fingers, as if turning over a fond memory. “Yeah, I said this is ideal. This is an ideal position for me.”

Before coming to Carleton, Russ worked for the United Farm Workers’ Union during the Grape Boycott in Montreal, Canada, and served as a Peace Corps math teacher in Moshi, Tanzania. Prior to that, he was a math major with a physics minor at St. Olaf. He started college thinking he’d become a ceramics engineer, but as he kept taking math classes, Russ got hooked on logic. 

Explaining why he chose math over physics, Russ said, “I backed into it because I was curious to know where the formulas in physics came from and how we derived those formulas.”

This pursuit of deep understanding is also what Russ hopes to instill in students. 

“The reward I get, you know, is when somebody realizes how to do that problem,” he said. “That person walks away smiling, saying, ‘Oh, now I can do another problem just like that.’” 

This, he emphasized, is what he loves about tutoring: “It’s the feeling that you’ve helped somebody. Every time you work with someone, it’s a different experience.”

Scattered around the lab are puzzles and curious objects that Russ has collected from garage sales over the years. He laughed when asked about them, saying he likes to challenge students. Russ loves his job not just because it lets him do math, but also because it lets him share math with others. In his patient voice, he reflected: “It’s more about the person. Yeah. It’s all about the person.”

Russ is not only the soul of the Math Skills Center; he’s also a legend in the physical education, athletics, and recreation (PEAR) department. Since 1989, besides teaching bright-eyed students how to integrate, he’s also been instructing aerobics. 

“I cannot keep up with him,” is what 20-year-olds have been telling each other for decades after an evening of doing step aerobics with Russ. His aerobics classes have even been used in official College marketing materials — just check out a series of four promo videos he did when Carleton adopted the OneCard 14 years ago! Going Places with the OneCard, Get Your OneCard, Control Your Schillers, and Russ Returns: Dining Dollars vs. Schillers were obviously smash hits on YouTube.

When asked if he sees a connection between this sport and math, Russ just laughed and shook his head. 

“With math, I’m getting intellectual stimulation, and then during my aerobics class, I’m getting physical activity,” he said. 

If Russ likes math for its logic, he likes aerobics for its synchrony. 

“It’s like dancing!” Russ exclaimed. “I’m getting the best of both worlds here, you know.”

Fifty years is a long time, but whenever Russ talks about math or tutoring, his blue eyes still light up, sharp with enthusiasm. 

“I love what I do,” he said. “You know, it gives me fulfillment. It gives me satisfaction.” 

Smiling as always, Russ says there are three things he thinks every Carl should know: “Learn math. Come to the Math Skills Center. Everyone can do it.”