Vern E. Heeren grew up in the Sacramento Valley of California. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics with a minor in Physics at Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, and completing his Master of Arts degree in Mathematics at the University of California, Davis, Heeren began a 38-year teaching career at American River College, Sacramento, California, teaching math and a little physics. He coauthored *Mathematical Ideas* in 1968 with office mate Charles Miller, and he has enjoyed researching and revising it over the years. It has been a joy for him to complete the fourteenth edition, along with long-time coauthor John Hornsby, and with son Christopher Heeren. Source: [Pearson](https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/PGM2167964.html?tab=authors)