TMU math student teaches millions while dressed in drag
Many people get nervous when they hear the word “math.” But Kyne Santos, a TMU math grad student, saw a chance to change that.
Santos creates short, easy-to-follow videos that make math fun and accessible. But not just any videos: Santos teaches millions of viewers while dressed in full, high-glamour drag.
@onlinekyne Ever wonder how this app recommends new videos for you to watch, new products to buy, or new songs to stream? The official TikTok page made their own video about how this algorithm works, but I wanted to elaborate on the mathematical model guiding the computer program based on what I learned from Andrew Ng's coursera course on machine learning! (This is not an ad, just my personal project 🤷♂️)
♬ original sound - Kyne
Before coming to TMU, Santos was already famous. He competed on season one of Canada’s Drag Race (external link) , wrote a published book (external link) and built a career as a math educator.
“I feel like math has a bad reputation,” says Santos. “My message is that anyone can do math and find it interesting – without having to be a mathematician.”
Where math meets drag
Santos discovered an interesting connection between math and creating content: both require creative thinking.
He’s been making videos since high school as an outlet for his creativity. His TikTok exploded in 2020 when he began posting math tutorials in full drag.
“I thought that it was going to be the funniest thing and a fun way to show that math doesn’t have to be so serious all the time,” says Santos. “You can do math and look however you want to, and if we change how we think mathematicians or scientists should look, then I think that it would encourage more people to think they can study math.”
Today, Santos has over one million followers and has posted 700 videos with an engaging community.
@onlinekyne The four colour theorem! #math #graphtheory #dragqueen ♬ original sound - Kyne
“They're so excited to learn about math. I've gotten messages from people who say they're inspired to do a math degree because of me, or people who haven’t been in a math class in years and are interested in math again, ” says Santos.
Feedback like this fuels Santos and reminds him why he started posting online.
I don't worry about what people are going to think. I think that my delusion as a drag queen has been my greatest strength, because I just learned a long time ago that I'm not like everybody else, and I'm just going to be dancing to the beat of my own drum.
Awards and recognition
Santos’ work has earned him significant recognition, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute of Science and the top prize for the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications.
“It feels great,” says Santos. “I remember in Grade 8, our teacher telling us the jobs of the future don’t even exist yet. Here I am, a drag queen, and I never knew that could be a career.”
After his TikToks went viral, Johns Hopkins University Press asked Santos to write a book based on his videos.
While writing, Santos connected with well-known mathematicians and math educators, including his future TMU supervisor, Anthony Bonato.
Bringing math to life
Both Santos and his supervisor, Bonato love connecting math with the real world through storytelling.
Bonato recently hosted a panel discussion (external link) at the Fields Institute. Santos joined other award-winning math authors and creators to talk about making math accessible and how it impacts our everyday lives.
Returning to the classroom
After finishing his undergraduate degree, Santos worked full-time as a content creator for four years. While he loved making math videos, he missed studying math in depth.
“I missed the mentorship of having teachers around you, and kind of the camaraderie of having classmates,” says Santos.
After learning about TMU’s math program from Bonato, Santos decided to pursue a master’s of applied mathematics at TMU.
Research that connects to the real world
Santos’ research focuses on network science and graph theory – the study of connections between points and lines.
He’s currently looking at international trade networks and which countries trade with each other, trying to see if math can uncover any hidden patterns.
“Kyne brings his sense of creativity and curiosity to everything he does; he excels at asking the right questions and pushing forward with novel ideas in research,” says Bonato. “Kyne and I are working on a network science project applied to international trade and the impact of tariffs, alongside my new doctoral student, Vincent Luong.”
Advice for students
Santos says success comes from hard work, not just natural talent.
“Everybody who’s good at math has to work hard at it,” he says. “It's similar to learning how to play a sport or learning how to play an instrument, it takes a lot of hours of progress.”
He encourages students to focus on real understanding. “What matters is what you take away from it, and whether you're actually interested in the thing that you're learning about, and importantly, whether you can actually apply that toolbox to solve problems in the real world and help people.”