About the Creators

The Creators

Irene Marie Patton’s original method, now known as Chrometics, used colored paper and pens to teach English vowel sounds with color. Hubert Halkin wrote the original programming for digital use. Together, they refined the program so that individuals, as well as teachers could use this unique method to learn and teach English reading and speaking skills.

Today, Ms Patton continues to offer Chrometics, to both individuals and groups. When conducting these highly individualized sessions, all of the Chrometics forms are available for use.

Chrometics is available by subscription as a web-based application.


Irene M. Patton

Irene M. Patton

Irene Marie Patton came to Education after already succeeding in a multi-dimensional corporate management career. She is also a classically trained vocalist and contemporary visual artist.

In addition to her work in business, Ms. Patton's employment includes five seasons with the San Diego Opera (and other venues). As owner and manager of “Galleria dell’Aria,” her visual art enterprise, Irene was a founding member of San Diego’s monthly “Ray at Night,” which is described as “San Diego’s biggest regular art event.” Ms Patton also worked eight years for the San Diego Community College District, where she specialized in teaching pronunciation and fluency to English language learners.

Ms. Patton received her Master of Education (with Psychology Focus) from Pepperdine GSEP and Bachelor of Arts (for Music Performance and Visual Art) from the University of San Diego. Her degree work included residence in Florence, Italy, and Salzburg and Bregenz, Austria. She has held a California Teaching Credential and obtained a Certification to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of California, San Diego.


Hubert Halkin, Ph.D.

Hubert Halkin, Ph.D.

Hubert Halkin, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Mathematics at the University of California, San Diego. He studied engineering at the University of Liege, Belgium and mathematics at Stanford University where he received a Ph.D.

Dr. Halkin has been a member of the editorial board of four mathematics journals. He was a visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Louvain, Belgium (on a Guggenheim fellowship). His research interests have recently included computational geometry, graph theory and reading theory and is now the “accidental owner” of Idyllwild’s eclectic Café Aroma.

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