Sam Broverman has two passions – music and math. A professor of actuarial mathematics at the University of Toronto, he’s also a jazz singer who released his first album, a tribute to Johnny Mercer, at the age of 60.
Growing up in Winnipeg, Broverman performed in musicals and rock ‘n’ roll bands and sang commercial jingles. When he was accepted by the University of Manitoba for graduate studies in both music and mathematics, he was forced to make a choice.
“I gave up the opportunity for a ‘lucrative’ career in music for the silver career in mathematics,” he said wryly. But ironically music – a field you can make hundreds of dollars in, he said – did help Broverman pay for graduate school.
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Broverman and his wife, Sue, moved to Toronto in 1980 after U of T made him an offer …