TOP 10 facts on… PROFESSOR LESSER!
10. My job & last name rhyme!
9. At UTEP since 2004; also taught in Savannah, Houston, Austin, & Greeley (CO).
8. BA in math and MS in stats, but my PhD/research is in math/stats education, because my top strength/interest/calling was to study learning, not prove theorems — that’s why I value and expect to learn from your questions, strategies, struggles, and ideas — when I ask “tell me why you say that.”
7. Teaching is en mi familia (e.g., my grandma Julia Lesser taught math for 25+ years in TX public schools; my great aunt Matilda Shanblum was Teacher of the Year at EP’s Zach White ES and the first UTEP scholarship fund for future teachers bears her name). Before UTEP, I got to be a HS math teacher for 2 years, which taught me so much about motivation, assessment, etc.
6. I enjoy reclaiming my HS Spanish, and I’ve researched the distinctive strengths and challenges of emerging bilinguals learning statistics. (Other research foci are teacher education, misconceptions/intuition, equity, and educational engagement/STEAM.)
5. In college, my “compass” was math, music, and philosophy, and my most profound learning often happened outside my major/classroom. So it’s not surprising I’m now not just a “numbers guy” – I do qualitative research, too! I love interdisciplinarity of statistics and math education and I’ve authored with profs of math, statistics, math/stat ed, bilingual ed, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, educational technology, business administration, and music. Be your full self and having all of your backgrounds (sometimes unexpectedly) inform your work — my professional work has been informed by my experiences as a high school teacher, teaching center director, state agency statistician, songwriter, poet, journalist, high school Spanish student, a faith minority, etc.
4. I love real world connections! I was staff statistician for the Texas Legislative Council for 1990-91 redistricting and my class on lottery math was mentioned on CNN in 1993 and when jackpots get huge, I keep getting interview requests such as NewsNation, USA Today, iHEART radio stations. and various TV/radio/newspaper outlets. I’ve also had international media coverage for connecting math to everything from music to religion — with outlets including BBC Radio Wales, Australia’s largest newspaper, and being interviewed by a former first lady of Jamaica on a Kingston radio station!
3. I love my job, AND am more than my job. I also love spending time with loved ones and our remaining hairless rescue dog. And I love writing poems/songs — some use math/stats and some don’t.
2. I’ve struggled (and persevered), too…..with college classes, math/statistics content, life, etc.! Dropped intro computer class twice, but changed approach and passed (with an A!) on try #3. I’ve also known struggle and growth in non-academic areas of my life where I had no close role models.
1. I believe grades measure progress, not promise, and that your value and my respect for you as a person (confianza) does not depend on your achievement (or job, title, # of Facebook friends, etc.).
BONUS Fun Fact: As college students in the 80s, a friend and I once played basketball 2-on-1 against Charles Barkley ….and we lost!
(for more Lesser, see my rap, intentions, interview)