Mark Clark graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor's and Master's in Mathematics. He is a full-time Associate Professor at Palomar College and has taught there for the past 13 years. He is committed to teaching his students through applications and using technology to help them both understand the mathematics in context and communicate their results clearly. Intermediate algebra is one of his favorite courses to teach, and he continues to teach several sections of this course each year. He has collaborated with his colleague Cynthia Anfinson to write a new intermediate and beginning algebra text published by Cengage Learning--Brooks/Cole. It is an… applications-first approach to algebra; applications and concepts drive the material, supported by traditional skills and techniques.