Education, Awards & Work History

Degrees and certificates

  • Ph.D. Educational Studies (in progress) (Concentration in STEM), Wayne State University, August 2019-present. ABD status granted in October 2022. Prospectus Defense date: January 12, 2024.
  • M.P.A., Wayne State University, December 2016
  • Graduate Certificate, Economic Development, Wayne State University, December 2016
  • M.A. Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Secondary Mathematics, Wayne State University, December 2011
  • B.A. (Magna Cum Laude), Mathematics & Secondary Teaching Certificate, Wayne State University, May 2009

Faculty honors and awards

  • Department Service Award (1st cohort) – This accolade recognizes outstanding service contributions that significantly enhance the mathematics department’s operations, community, and overall mission, given on May 22, 2024.
  • Student Success Faculty Fellow Award for AY 2022-2023, given on November 8, 2023.
  • I was part of Pete Thomas’s Freshmen Orientation Part 2 Keynote Address as a faculty representative. He used me to illustrate the importance of engaging with faculty while at WSU, August 30, 2021.
  • General Education Teaching Award, April 12, 2021.
    • I served as a mentor for 2 award candidates during the 2021-2022 award year cycle.
  • President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, April 6, 2021. Awards Program 2021
  • One of three faculty selected to be a part of the 2020-2021 class of the Wayne State University Academy of Teachers. Check out our blog.
    • I served as Chair during AY 2021-2022 and Vice Chair AY 2022-2023.
  • Named an inspirational mentor by Phi Beta Kappa Initiates: Emily Pastor 2015, Farrah Dourra 2016, Andrew Yan 2017, Sydney Jansen 2020, Kenan Sinan 2021, Racquel Dunneback 2022.
  • Featured on Department website: Faculty Spotlight, 2016
  • Invited to and attended the Academic Recognition Luncheon for Athletics, by former Calculus student Jacqueline Feist, 2018; Jayvia Cummings, 2022.
  • Certificate of Service to Wayne State University on the occasion of my 10th Anniversary of Employment, April 2019.

Graduate honors and awards

  • Vladimir Seidel Award (2011) – Awarded by the Wayne State Department of Mathematics for my high achievement in the Applied Mathematics Master’s Program.
  • Pi Alpha Alpha (2015) – Admission to this Honor Society is for graduate students who maintain high academic standards in Public Administration programs.

Undergraduate honors and awards

  • Magna Cum Laude (2009)
  • Phi Beta Kappa (2009) – The Nation’s oldest honors society inducts graduates who have a wide range of liberal arts courses and who maintain high GPA standards. This typically represents the top 1% of each graduating class.
  • David Mackenzie Honor Society (2009) – To honor my service to the university through my work with the Math Corps, I was inducted into this Honor Society.

Work History

  • Associate Professor of Teaching, Dept. of Mathematics, Wayne State, Sept. 2021 – present.
  • Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Mathematics, Wayne State, Sept. 2018 – Sept. 2021.
  • Lecturer, Dept. of Mathematics, Wayne State, Sept. 2013 – Aug. 2018.
  • Interim Program Coordinator, Wayne State Math Corps, Sept. 2011 – Aug. 2013.
  • Assistant Program Coordinator, Wayne State Math Corps, Sept. 2009 – Aug. 2011.

How did I get into the classroom?

The WSU Math Corps is a summer outreach program that has operated at Wayne State since 1995. The Program seeks to uplift students and encourage them all while using mathematics as the catalyst for such change. Many students enter the Camp as middle school students and aspire to be hired as the high school teaching assistants (TAs) who mentor the middle school students. I was privileged to have began work in the summer of 2004 as a College Assistant (CA), handling tutoring, safety monitoring, and event set-up tasks. For the next three summers, I worked as a College Instructor, responsible for a team of 10 middle school students and 5 high school TAs. My participation in this role provided me with a firm foundation in mathematics education, but more importantly, how to uplift kids and help them to realize their own personal greatness.

While still an undergraduate, and in an unprecedented move by the program, I was hired as a site coordinator in 2008. I was responsible for all logistics of the 200 person Camp designated as Site 1 as well as the management of 25 CAs. It was during this time that I was given the nickname Bossman.

In 2009, I was hired full time as the Assistant Program Coordinator to support the work of the Math Corps but also to support the Program Coordinator. Due to budget cuts, I assumed full coordinating responsibilities in the fall of 2011. During my time in both positions, I managed to put together a series of operations manuals which detail the day-to-day and longitudinal planning of both the summer camp and the Saturday programs which run in the fall and winter. These manuals are in use today and have become an important stepping stone which have aided the program’s expansion into cities like Cleveland, Utica (NY), Philadelphia, and as far away as Ghana.

Seeking to return to the classroom, I applied for and was hired as a lecturer for the fall 2013, but I did see the 2013 summer camp through until the end. During the summer of 2014 I served as an advisor the then program coordinator and have been very loosely involved with the Camp since then, due to other obligations and opportunities.

Here I am, 3rd from left with Nicole Stokes (a close friend and mentee who previously taught at a local charter school and is currently the Math Corps’ Program Coordinator), Dr. Darryl Gardner  (Director, Operational Effectiveness and Student Success WSU Office of the Provost), and Lance Courts (a Graduate Student studying Criminal Justice at the University of Toledo). This photo was taken in the summer of 2012.