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Stela Pudar Hozo FACET Introduction By Dr. Tanice Foltz Indianapolis on May 18th 2007

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Stela Pudar Hozo as a new member of FACET. Stela began teaching at IUN as an adjunct professor in 1995-2002, then became a visiting lecturer for two semesters, and since 2002 has served as Lecturer in Math and Actuarial Sciences.

Stela’s accomplishments are many, and they reveal her reflections upon teaching as well as her commitment to growth and her leadership qualities. To help students understand the ins and outs of math, she co-created Project Prepare, a web page that contains information about placement exams, pretests, procedures, and textbooks for all the math classes and in 2006 she authored the Excel Spreadsheet Manual that accompanies the math text used in the department.

Her participation in five FACET teaching conferences for associate faculty helped her cultivate what she calls the “brave heart,” from which she developed a Reformed approach to teaching calculus, incorporating Excel spreadsheets and modeling.  She makes her classes relevant by integrating the latest data on cancer research, unemployment and housing, which has a “magical effect on students’ interest in lectures, inspiring them to do more” . . .( and helping them develop a trust in the importance of their mathematical knowledge for their future jobs).” Students consistently report her patience and kindness in working with them until they understand the material.

Stela sees her teaching as service and conducts annual seminars for local middle and high school Academic Competition teams, which have won state and national medals.  She has won CETL grants to support IUN students’ involvement in the calculator tournaments (2006 and 2007), and she has won four teaching awards since 1997.

In sum, I quote from her teaching philosophy:

“It is a weird feeling to enter any of my classes on day one. One can feel students’ quiet fear of mathematics built up through years of rejection, shame and even anger because “they have to take this class.” It is my duty [to bring the feeling that they are a group of people working together on something they really need], to coach them into free spirited thinkers who enjoy the process of solving mathematical problems and know that they are right when they are right.”

Clearly, Stela is a wonderful educator and human being who will be a terrific asset to FACET. Let’s welcome this stellar teacher into the fold. I give you Stela Pudar Hozo.