Teaching Statements: Cross-Disciplinary Mentoring at All Career Stages
A variety of personal experiences in education have had a powerful impact on my career development. My initial experiences were from my parents, both veterans of 30 years of K-12 teaching. I have traveled quite a varied pathway to reach this stage of my academic career. My teaching philosophy centers around generating student interest in academic topics, encouraging them to be self-motivated, and helping them become independent learners. Being a female Asian faculty member with educational experiences in two continents and a wide range of interdisciplinary research, grants me unique benefits for the mentorship of students at all levels. Many female students and postdocs turn to me as a role model for their careers. Many students or postdocs from other countries seek me out as a mentor who has successfully overcome a similar transition between cultures. I have taught a broad range of courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. I have supervised 24 postdoc researchers, 10 Ph.D. students (8 Ph.D. thesis and 6 visiting shared Ph.D. from other institutions), 18 M.S. students (12 M.S. thesis at Oakland and one M.S. thesis from another institution), 20 undergraduate students and over 10 high school student research projects. I also hosted and supervised seven visiting professors for their sabbatical research. Several of the graduate students in my lab have received University or Regional awards for their research. Many of my students or postdocs obtained very competitive jobs in both academic and industry (Table 1). I was nominated by Oakland University to compete for the NSF Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2012. I won Oakland Univ. Research Excellent Award and International Service Award in 2015. She is selected as one of the 12 women who were featured on the book " Women who changed the World The journey and Joy" in 2015 ( Sunbury Press, ISBN: 978-1-62006-597-6).