We hope you enjoy this series where we meet and get to know employees from across campus. Would you like to be featured? Contact us at campusnews@csufresno.edu.

Name: Howie Hua
Title: Lecturer
Department: Mathematics
Academic Degrees: M.A., Mathematics (teaching option); B.A., Mathematics, both from Fresno State

How long you have worked at Fresno State: More than 5 years.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important? I wanted to become a math educator to help people feel more comfortable with math, and to have this job here at Fresno State teaching math to future elementary school teachers is a huge joy. On top of that, sharing all things math related on educational Twitter and TikTok and seeing comments that I’m helping teachers, students and the general public around the world puts a huge smile on my face.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why? I am extremely passionate about showing everyone they are math people. I do this by showing that there are so many ways to approach a problem, that math is visual and that math is much more than memorizing formulas.

What is a memorable moment you had at your job? During one class’s last session in the fall 2020 online semester, students surprised me by holding up signs of thanks. That definitely made me teary-eyed!

What is a memorable moment you had in class, and what does that reveal about your teaching style? When I pose a math problem, I try to always answer last. Because of this, more often than not, I would see strategies that I would have never thought of before. For example, four years ago, I asked students to find the 100th term of the sequence three, seven, 11, 15, 19 ... The method I had in mind came up, and then a student said he found another way. I asked him to show his method on the board and he said “Well, all of these are one less than a multiple of four, so I multiplied 100 by four and subtracted one to get 399.” I had never seen it that way before! This is why I love answering last — to see how students come up with solutions and to honor their thinking.

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time? I really enjoy learning about geography and space, spinning color guard equipment and playing piano. I also like making math explainer videos on TikTok and making math memes.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know? My favorite sport to watch is gymnastics. Ask me any question about any national/world competition 2003 to present and I’ll probably know the answer!

Is there something else you would like to share that was not asked? I absolutely love sharing, so if you want to see math explainer videos, math memes and teaching tips, feel free to follow my Twitter and/or TikTok! My username is @howie_hua for both.