Math degree offers alumnus track to career in education

Calculates efforts

Kevin Parsons imagined building a career on the racetrack. The son of NASCAR driver Benny Parsons, his aspirations were centered on stock cars, pit stops, and checkered flags. Yet his parents wanted their son to earn a college degree. He ended up at �۶�ֱ�� University almost by default.

“I had a cousin that was going to �۶�ֱ��, so I decided to go there and room with him in good old Mauney Hall,” Parsons explained. “I still thought I was going to drive a race car for a living and the only reason I was going to college was because of my parents. No one in my family had ever attained a college degree and they really wanted me to go.”

Like many incoming students, Parsons wasn’t sure where to focus his studies. “When I took the placement tests during orientation, I found out I could attain a few free credit hours in math if I took calculus,” he recalled. “Once I earned an ‘A’ in that class, I decided to major in math, in which I had always done well in school.”

He remembers several instrumental individuals who impacted his time at GWU. Dr. Paul Jolley (then the chair of the math department), Dr. Gil Blackburn, and even golf coach Dr. “Doc” Garland Allen all played an important role in shaping Parsons’ future. “I tried out for the golf team and was fortunate enough to make it,” Parsons shared. “Doc was such a good man. I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing golf for �۶�ֱ��.”

In 1987, Parsons graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He immediately went to work in the racing industry. “Even though I won a few local short track races, I didn’t make it to the ‘big time,’” he stated.

About six years after graduation, he received a call from the vice president for instruction at Richmond Community College (RCC) in Hamlet, N.C. “He had heard that I had a math degree and offered me a chance to teach some developmental math classes,” Parsons reflected. “I loved teaching so much that I started graduate school in 1994 at UNC-Pembroke. When I graduated in 1996, I was offered a full-time instructor position at RCC.”

Following more than two decades as a math instructor at Richmond, Parsons applied for—and was appointed to—the position of vice president for instruction at Richmond Community College.

“A typical day is attending meetings to help the citizens of Richmond and Scotland counties develop a better life than they currently have,” Parsons shared. “We are trying to remove any barrier they may have that is preventing them from being successful.”

In this role, Parsons also serves as an advocate for the �۶�ֱ�� University Degree Completion Program (DCP), with RCC offering online and evening DCP classes in Hamlet and Laurinburg, N.C. “I am a big supporter of the DCP at �۶�ֱ��, and believe the connection between GWU and our students has been a positive influence in helping them achieve a four-year degree,” he offered.

Although his vocational aspirations didn’t quite turn out the way he originally imagined, Parsons is grateful for the twists, turns and unexpected pit stops of his career journey. “For fun, I still do local racing,” he admitted. “I’ve been doing it for a total of 15 years and I love it now more than ever.”

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“�۶�ֱ��’s math program and professors prepared me well for graduate school and my career. Now I’m working as a statistician in the financial services industry, and I can definitely say there are lots of opportunities for folks with that background.”

Chris Farthing ’09 appreciates the professors at �۶�ֱ�� who prepared him to excel in graduate school and business, but he is even more grateful for the lasting friendships he formed at the University. “Despite time and distance, the best friends I have right now are still the ones I made at �۶�ֱ��,” he observed

His decision to attend GWU was based on the students he met while interviewing for a scholarship. “The interview was my first visit to campus,” Farthing related. “While all of us nervous high school graduates-to-be were waiting for our interview times, some current GWU students were mixed in with us, playing board games, hanging out, and trying to help take the edge off our nervousness. That moment really did it for me. Seeing students go out of their way to be helpful and friendly was an early indicator of what I still like most about �۶�ֱ��. �۶�ֱ�� has great people, both students and faculty, and I wanted to be a part of that culture.”

Because his father is in the banking industry, Farthing had an interest in business and started out as an economics/finance major. After getting a work study position as a tutor in the math lab, he realized that he liked helping others work math problems. His sophomore year, he switched his major to math education, but then found out he couldn’t complete the degree in four years. He could, however, double major in math and economics/finance without adding extra semesters. Combining the two degrees also prepared him to continue his education.

“When I started looking at graduate programs, I realized that statistics as a field of math can be applied in many areas and would allow me to blend my interest in business with my math skills,” he reflected. “�۶�ֱ��’s math program and professors prepared me well for graduate school and my career. Now I’m working as a statistician in the financial services industry, and I can definitely say there are lots of opportunities for folks with that background.”

After graduation, he earned his master’s in applied statistics at UNC Charlotte. He is pursuing his doctorate in applied statistics and working at Ally Financial in Charlotte. “I lead a team that audits statistical models that are used to make predictions,” Farthing explained. “We make sure they were developed correctly and are used appropriately. I like it because I get to see a variety of modeling methodologies and ways people use statistics to attack business problems, so it keeps my skills sharp and helps challenge me to keep learning new things.”

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Math Studies prepared �۶�ֱ�� grad to explore innovative ideas

“My time at �۶�ֱ�� introduced me to the rudiments of a variety of mathematical tools, which were key in preparation for the challenges of graduate studies.”

The research Chinwendu Enyioha (’08) conducts in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., is based on mathematical theories and functions he studied at �۶�ֱ�� University. The GWU atmosphere allowed him to investigate topics suited to his interests, giving him a foundation to explore innovative ideas.

“The size of the math department and faculty-student ratio allowed me to harness the focused attention and mentorship that professors were willing to offer,” he assessed. “The support from the math department faculty was excellent. Like most math undergraduate programs, students are trained how to think abstractly about everything, including concrete problems. My time at �۶�ֱ�� introduced me to the rudiments of a variety of mathematical tools, which were key in preparation for the challenges of graduate studies.”

As a Harvard researcher, he studies methods for allocating limited resources to meet the demands of users. “Such problems show up in different contexts, including power systems and Cyber-Physical networks, where independent electric power operators must meet constantly changing power needs, while avoiding system overload and blackouts,” he elaborated. “My research broadly applies some existing tools from mathematics and develops new theory to address such problems.”

Since leaving �۶�ֱ��, Enyioha has been a postdoctoral researcher in electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed his Ph.D. He has also held visiting research positions at the University of Minnesota, California Institute of Technology, and the Corporate Research Division of Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany, where he worked on projects ranging from understanding network topologies to reliability analysis in engineering systems.

“Some of my past work developed tools and techniques for contagion control in networks and studied the interplay between spreading dynamics and properties of networks, as they affect control of epidemic processes,” Enyioha explained.

Because of his accomplishments, Enyioha received the Mathematical Association of America Southeastern Section Patterson Award and the GWU Scholastic Achievement award. He is also a Fellow of the Ford Foundation and was named a Fontaine Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I look back with fondness at my time and experience in the �۶�ֱ�� Math Department,” Enyioha reflected. “Particularly memorable was the attentiveness of the math faculty to student learning needs, and the high quality and interest in teaching they exuded. Their support, in part, spurred me on to pursue my academic interests and current career in research.”

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GWU classes developed alumna’s skills as a mathematician and educator

“All of my professors had a passion for what they were teaching and truly desired to share that passion with their students. They also got to know me and would offer me opportunities to enhance my skills as a mathematician and a teacher.”

Working algebraic equations intimidates some students, but Chasity McCraw, a 2017 alumna of �۶�ֱ�� University, teaches her students that math is nothing to fear. McCraw was a teenager when she discovered she liked solving for x and y.

“As soon as I saw the challenges and the giant puzzle that is mathematics, I knew I wanted to share my excitement for the subject,” she reflected. “Seeing some people dislike and dismiss math as being ‘too hard’ or requiring a ‘math brain’ only fueled my passion. My goal became to show that mathematics is approachable to everyone.”

After graduating from GWU, McCraw was hired to teach high school math at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Rutherford County, N.C. She has around 90 students and teaches Honors Math II with a geometry focus and Math I, which has an algebra concentration. “I’ve loved everything about this year,” she affirmed. “My favorite experience has been bonding with the students and working through challenging problems as a team.”

She developed confidence in her skills, because GWU professors motivated students to take their understanding to a deeper level. “I was encouraged to explore more of the ‘why’ math works rather than the ‘how,’” McCraw assessed. “This is tremendously helpful when teaching material to students for the first time. By introducing a subject with the ‘why,’ students are more invested in the ‘how’ and have a better understanding of the concept as a whole. Also, my classroom management course was a great resource for helping me think about the everyday classroom life and how I wanted to run my classes and show compassion towards my students in my own way.”

McCraw also learned and practiced a variety of teaching techniques. “In Statistics, we taught problems to one another, teacher-style,” she described. “In Geometry, we sat together and discussed the material while noting the key concepts. In Foundations of Higher Mathematics, we drilled vocabulary and performed formal proofs. In Calculus, we expanded our learning to the 3D plane.”

The best advice she received was not to become discouraged if her students didn’t understand new material right away. “I often blamed myself if a student I tutored failed or they didn’t immediately comprehend my explanation,” she revealed. “While student teaching, I experienced that self-blame tenfold. Fortunately, I realized the most important thing was to keep trying and adapting to the students themselves, showing them more perspectives if they are struggling.”

McCraw experienced the same support and encouragement from the professors in the �۶�ֱ�� Department of Mathematics. “All of my professors had a passion for what they were teaching and truly desired to share that passion with their students,” she praised. “They also got to know me and would offer me opportunities to enhance my skills as a mathematician and a teacher. These opportunities started as tutoring jobs on and off campus and grew into jobs at local schools. One such opportunity is one of the main reasons that I am actively teaching at a terrific school today.”

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