Escalante, a teacher with excellent results

A high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante taught both in his native Bolivia and the U.S. as he spent most of his working career as an educator. He enjoyed remarkable success in his chosen vocation, and made a significant difference among his pupils. His efforts at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles were particularly inspiring, as he taught them calculus and had them clear college-level exams, even though they weren’t expected to. His feats there formed the basis of the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver , one that catapulted his fame to a larger audience.

Escalante was the second eldest of five children born to Zenobio Escalante Rodriguez and Sara Gutierrez Valle, both teachers in a small village in Bolivia. Born in La Paz in 1930, Escalante learnt to read and write from his grandfather, a philosophy professor, and the basics of mathematics from his mother.