|
||||||||
Tom Dowling
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PCC Math Professor Is Named Florida Distinguished Teacher
4/5/2002: Polk Community College Professor Li Zhou received Florida’s Distinguished Teaching Award for 2002 from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Zhou was unanimously chosen for this award, which typically has been won by a university professor.
The native of China received the award in recognition of his overall passion for math and teaching of math. He supplements the standard math curriculum with movies, history and contemporary topics; and challenges his students with a unique Mr. Rogers-like “Problem of the Week.” Zhou exudes enthusiasm for his chosen subject saying, “Mathematics is beautiful, cool and very elegant.” He is impressed that its “universality makes it the same no matter where you live.”
Despite his love for the subject , Zhou was not granted the opportunity to study mathematics. Instead, it was a career in geography he first pursued. In China, he didn’t get to choose which subject he would major in college. He attended Beijing University with the assigned major of geography. After graduating from there in 1984 with a B.S. in geography, Zhou worked for four years as a research associate for the Institute of Geography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 1988, Zhou left China. He was able to leave the country on a United Nations’ training program with a university in the Netherlands. He spent two years working as a geographic researcher throughout Europe including southern Italy, where he studied earthquakes and volcanic hazards. In Europe Zhou studied the English language, as well as geography, which in turn increased his chances of obtain a teaching assistantship in the United States.
Zhou moved to the U.S. in 1990 and was a student at Louisiana State University working towards a Ph.D. in geography. Two years later, realizing that the U.S. provides freedom of choice, he decided to enroll in the graduate program in math at the University of Missouri. There as a grad assistant, he taught math and earned a M.A. in mathematics with a 4.0 grade point average. In 1994 he was admitted into the Ph.D. program in math at the University of Michigan where he completed all the coursework and candidacy exams but has not yet finished his dissertation.
Zhou has been teaching at PCC since 1999. “I enjoy teaching here. There are many friendly people here,” he said. Zhou enjoys teaching at a community college where he is not under the pressure to “publish or perish,” like university professors. “I’m very happy with this profession. I’m doing what I want to and I get paid,” he said.
He is honored to have received the MAA award. As part of the award process several faculty members and students wrote recommendations for him. They noted that Zhou has had many of his mathematical problems and solutions published in international math journals and has brought many interesting problems to the classroom. He also serves as faculty advisor to the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society.
In three years, Zhou has developed a great reputation among math teachers throughout the state. “At MAA meetings in Florida, his presentations are on the ‘automatic attend list’ of many,” states his award. “He has made the art of problem solving a very attractive part of his teaching. In short," the award concludes, "Professor Zhou is an exemplary teacher who respects and enjoys the respect of his students.”
 |