作者：辛西娅·休伯特

2021年2月5日

博彩平台教授伊莱恩·卡西玛提斯成长的年代，人们公开反对女孩成为数学家。

但这并没有阻止卡西马提斯，他喜欢思考数学问题，并帮助别人解决这些问题。

Now, she has been named among the nation’s best math educators.

尽管存在性别障碍，在几位重要导师的帮助下，卡西玛提斯获得了多个学位，并取得了长期的教学成就。 She joined 囊状态’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics in 1986, and her work across the region, state, and country has influenced generations of math teachers and students.

For her dedication and accomplishments, the Mathematical Association of America has awarded Kasimatis its prestigious 黛博拉和富兰克林泰珀海莫奖. The annual award honors three university professors who have been “widely recognized as extraordinarily successful” and whose teaching has had influence beyond their institutions.

In accepting the honor, Kasimatis thanked her mentors, including UC Davis Professor Emeritus Sherman Stein, among “a multitude of students and teachers” and colleagues.

“I’m also thankful for the lack of support and the discouraging ‘you don’t really belong’ messages that I encountered throughout my career,” she said.

这些疑虑反而增强了她的毅力。

“When I was growing up, for the most part, girls were not encouraged to do math,” Kasimatis said. Some told her that “boys wouldn’t like me” if she was good at it. “In many of my classes, I was the only girl. 我能感觉到整个女性的重量压在我的肩膀上。 But when people tried to discourage me, it made me more determined.”

卡西玛提斯在家乡的加州大学戴维斯分校获得学位。 She holds a doctorate in Mathematics, a master’s of arts in Teaching Mathematics, and teaching credentials in multiple subjects. 她利用自己的教育背景来支持全国各地未来的数学教师。

Among her many achievements, she helped create the innovative 大学数学预备课程, which is used across the nation. She also was instrumental in the development of the CSU’s first “blended” Mathematics program, which allows future secondary math teachers to pursue their teaching credentials while working on their undergraduate degrees.

“You don’t have to worry about getting an answer right away. 首先建立对问题的理解。 这种乐趣来自于解决问题，思考问题，弄清楚问题。 It feels good to be able to do that.”

Lisa Hammersley, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at 囊状态, called Kasimatis passionate and “absolutely dedicated” to her students.

“Her work developing future math teachers impacts not only the students she has in her classroom, but countless students – and future Hornets – in our region’s schools,” Hammersley said.

Kasimatis’s influence extends across the globe. In 2008, she spent a year volunteering in Rwanda, where she helped develop and train teachers at the 卢瓦马加纳领导学校, which emphasizes quality education and environmental and economic sustainability, according to its website.

Kasimatis believes that, despite a widespread perception that “you’re either a math person or you’re not, you either get it or you don’t,” anyone can enjoy doing mathematics. Her style emphasizes “helping students make sense of the math that they are exploring, to see it as a process and figure out puzzles,” rather than simply manipulating symbols and formulas.

“We all think in different ways and at different speeds,” said Kasimatis. “You don’t have to worry about getting an answer right away. 首先建立对问题的理解。 这种乐趣来自于解决问题，思考问题，弄清楚问题。 It feels good to be able to do that.”

卡西玛提斯说，她最大的满足感来自指导未来的教育工作者和监督实习教师。

Teaching “never gets old to me,” she said. “Each class is a different community. I learn something every time I talk with students.”

在过去的一年里，这项任务变得更加困难，为了遏制冠状病毒的传播，绝大多数课程都在网上进行。

“It’s harder in the virtual environment,” Kasimatis said. “We don’t have the same energy on Zoom as we do when we’re sitting in a classroom together.”

Still, she continues to do her best to “educate students who will become teachers who will mentor others,” she said.

“I see the teachers who are out there and I watch them bloom in the classroom and do amazing things,” said Kasimatis. “It really does feel like family.”

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10月19日更新。 2021: Kasimatis 意外去世 at the age of 69 on Sept. 7, 2021.