Danica McKellar From Child Star to Acclaimed Author and STEM Advocate
Danica McKellar is well known for her acting career as a child star on the hit TV show “The Wonder Years.” However, after the show ended, she successfully transitioned into new pursuits including becoming a New York Times bestselling author and a prominent advocate for getting more girls interested in math and STEM fields.
How Did Danica McKellar Get Started as a Child Star?
Danica was born in 1975 in La Jolla, California. She showed an early talent and interest in performing, taking dance lessons and appearing in commercials as a toddler.
Her big break came in 1988 at age 13 when she was cast as Winnie Cooper on “The Wonder Years” starring opposite Fred Savage. The coming-of-age show about suburban life in the late 1960s and early 1970s was both a critical and commercial success.
Danica’s Character on The Wonder Years
Winnie Cooper was the main love interest of Kevin Arnold, played by Fred Savage on the show. Some key facts about Danica’s character:
- Girl next door who lives down the street from Kevin Arnold
- Smart, kind, and mature beyond her years
- Kevin has had a crush on her since they were young children
- They have an on-again, off-again romance throughout the show’s run
Danica brought depth and innocence to the role while sharing palpable on-screen chemistry with co-star Fred Savage. Fans loved watching their relationship grow and change over the years.
What Was Danica McKellar’s Life Like as a Young Star?
Landing a main role on a hit TV series so young came with a lot of changes for Danica. She had to balance normal schoolwork with long hours on set, tutors helping out in between scenes and other adjustments.
Dealing with Fame at a Young Age
Danica also had to rapidly adapt to fame. Almost overnight she went from an ordinary teen to having her face on magazines, getting recognized everywhere, and dealing with obsessed fans.
In interviews, she has spoken about how unusual her junior high and high school experience was compared to most kids her age. The normal pressures of adolescence were amplified by growing up in the public eye. It forced her to mature faster in some ways while missing out on regular social events.
Maintaining Good Grades
However, Danica has said her parents instilled in her a laser-like focus on education. They made sure to keep her grounded, emphasizing that acting was just an afterschool job. Danica graduated as valedictorian from her high school.
Life After The Wonder Years
When “The Wonder Years” ended its run in 1993 after 6 seasons, Danica enrolled at UCLA where she majored in math. This set the stage for her surprising career pivot after stepping back from acting for several years when the show ended.
How Did Danica Transition From Actress to Acclaimed Author?
Rather than chase auditions after The Wonder Years wrapped, Danica McKellar opted to go to college at UCLA and major in math. She has said she rediscovered a childhood love and talent for numbers in college. This passion ended up launching her entirely new career as an author.
Becoming a Math Author
In 2007, Danica published her first book “Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail.” It was aimed at tween and teen girls and sought to encourage more young women to embrace math rather than fear it or see it as a “boys subject.”
The book ended up being a smash hit, landing on the New York Times bestseller list. Danica discovered a whole new audience of young female math fans hungry for her blend of humor and illustrative examples breaking down complicated math concepts.
She has since gone on to write several more math-focused books for young adults through her Math Doesn’t Suck book series.
Danica McKellar’s Books
Here is the complete list of math books Danica has authored over the last 15+ years:
- Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail – 2007
- Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who’s Boss – 2008
- Hot X: Algebra Exposed! – 2010
- Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape – 2012
- Goodnight, Numbers – 2014
- Ten Magic Butterflies – 2014
- Batgirl at Super Hero High – 2017
Danica often incorporates her own life experiences and journey through middle and high school math. Her fun, slightly silly tone resonates with young pre-teens while still being informative.
Later Non-Math Focused Books
More recently, Danica has branched out into general young adult fiction. Her 2014 book “Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape” incorporates more geometry concepts but also expands further into narrative fiction.
She published the children’s book “Goodnight Numbers” the same year. And she co-authored the YA novel “Batgirl at Super Hero High” in 2017 featuring the iconic Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl.
So while math is still part of her writing, Danica also writes more traditional kids fiction these days under her Danica McKellar Books imprint.
What Sparked Danica McKellar’s Interest in Advocating for STEM Education?
In tandem with her mathematical author career, Danica gradually became a prominent advocate for improving math education and getting more girls engaged with STEM classes.
Danica has spoken and written extensively about growing up falling far behind in math compared to English and drama classes. Math came easily in elementary school but became tremendously hard for her later. The turning point was taking a proofs class at UCLA where for the first time math clicked on a deeper level.
From then on, she became a vocal proponent of how math done right can be creative, intuitional, and confidence building rather than intimidating.
Danica McKellar Seeing Confidence and Ability Gaps First-Hand
Her interest was further fueled by seeing damaging confidence gaps in action via fan mail over the years. As a female celebrity tied to math, she frequently heard from girls saying they just “aren’t good” at math innately so don’t pursue it. This persistent attitude troubled Danica deeply.
She noticed stark differences from similar letters from boys saying they were struggling in math. The boys blamed external factors like problems understanding the instruction rather than internal doubt about inherent aptitude for math.
Danica McKellar Combating Damaging Stereotypes
Danica also spoke about this confidence gap phenomenon during university speaking events. She emphasized how stereotypes about gender and math ability negatively impact young women. Math is not an innate skill exclusive to boys despite cultural conditioning claiming it is a “male domain.”
Through both her math books and non-profit work, Danica aims to combat these harmful stereotypes. She wants teachers and parents to foster early math confidence in girls to unlock more STEM career pursuits.
What organizations has Danica McKellar partnered with?
Danica works extensively with educational non-profits and institutions to promote national STEM initiatives:
Danica McKellar UCLA Science & Math Education Outreach
Sh is an active alum of the UCLA Science Education outreach arm focused on taking quality STEM instruction to high poverty schools. The program conducts experiments, demos, and lessons for K-12 youth in underfunded districts and those lacking resources.
As a sponsor and advocate, Danica frequently speaks about building inclusive, creative confidence around STEM – particularly for young girls who disproportionately opt-out earlier than boys.
Danica McKellar National STEM Scholar Program
Danica also works closely with the National STEM Scholar program formed in affiliation with the Obama White House “Educate to Innovate” campaign in 2010.
It provides specialized instruction around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math for high-achieving, underprivileged students. With help from sponsor networks, youth get scholarships, mentorship and real-world experience in STEM fields.
The goal is creating more diverse representation in crucial STEM industry talent pipelines.
Danica McKellar Thinkers In Schools
Danica partnered with the non-profit Thinkers In Schools as well. It arranges guest lectures at K-12 schools predominantly serving lower income demographics.
Industry science and tech professionals come speak with students about pursuing STEM careers. Danica shared her personal journey bridging the acting and mathematics worlds. She uses fame from The Wonder Years to promote the collective mission.
No matter the venue or organization, Danica relentlessly advocates math confidence for young girls and meeting students where they are rather than intimidation.
FAQs About Danica McKellar’s Life and Career
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Danica’s uncommon life trajectory from child star to math wizard:
Did Danica McKellar go to college?
Yes, Danica attended UCLA after The Wonder Years ended. She graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Mathematics in 1998.
What was Danica McKellar’s math thesis about at UCLA?
Danica wrote her senior mathematics thesis at UCLA on “Percolation and Gibbs states multiplicity for ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller models on Z^2.” It examined phase transitions in magnetic materials via computational models.
The paper reflects her passion for using technology paired with math theory to study real-world physics phenomenon like magnetism.
Is Danica McKellar still acting?
Yes, in addition to authoring math books over the last 15+ years, Danica continues acting as well. She has appeared in various TV movies and episodic shows such as The West Wing, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory among others.
She often plays teacher or attorney roles nowadays rather than teenage parts. But she still uses acting as a creative outlet along with writing and math initiatives.
What was Danica McKellar’s SAT score?
In interviews, Danica revealed she scored exceptionally high on the SAT college admission standardized test in the mid-1990s. Her math SAT score was 780 out of 800 reflecting strong advanced math skills.
Her 1520 combined SAT score across verbal and math sections placed her in the 99th percentile nationally out of all test takers.
What math concepts does Danica McKellar teach?
Both in her books and educational outreach, Danica focuses on making Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus more engaging and less intimidating for youth. She uses relatable examples tied to fashion, baking etc. rather than stereotypical “word problems” to illustrate essential math concepts.
The goal is building both math comprehension ability AND confidence in middle school to high school youth, but focusing especially on young girls due to stereotype threats.