Starting with the dream of becoming a Math teacher in her hometown of Binh Dinh, Truc Dao became a first-class professor in the Department of Mathematics, San Diego State University, USA.
Nguyen Nguyen Truc Dao, 29 years old, will teach, train PhD and continue research in the field of Optimization and Optimal Control, in the field of Applied Mathematics here in July. Previously, Dao was a PhD student at Wayne State University, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the school ranked 11th in Mathematics on the USNews American university rankings.
"My parents only wanted me to become a normal math teacher. But now, I come to the US to research and teach math, which is beyond my imagination," Dao said.
Nguyen Nguyen Truc Dao in the US, June 2022. Photo: Provided by the character
Dao was born in Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province. Her father was a motorbike parts dealer and her mother was a primary school teacher. Because her father loved math, when she was young, Dao and her younger sister were often given some fun math problems by their father before going to bed.
"If we couldn't figure it out, Dad would give us a little hint so we could think about it the next day, until we could figure it out, but he wouldn't let us see the solution," Dao recalled. That made Dao and her sister excited every time they found the answer, and also nurtured their passion for this subject.
After finishing high school at Tay Son High School, Dao was admitted to the Mathematics Pedagogy Department at Quy Nhon University. In a small city where the Internet was not yet popular, Dao took advantage of every available resource to study, from borrowing from teachers, libraries, and talking to friends. After 4 years, Dao graduated as valedictorian. The path to becoming a teacher seemed wide open, but Dao unexpectedly changed direction when she learned about "studying abroad".
At that time, the teachers at Quy Nhon University told Dao about the opportunity to study for a master's degree abroad, including an international master's program at the Institute of Mathematics outside Hanoi. After finishing her studies, Dao could continue her studies in France, the US, Germany, and Italy.
"I decided to take a risk and go to Hanoi," Dao said. This was also one of Dao's longest trips at that time. At the Institute of Mathematics, in addition to studying with Vietnamese lecturers, Dao studied with foreign experts, mainly French. However, this was also the most difficult thing for Dao because her foreign language skills were almost zero. Dao had to ask her seniors at the Institute to translate the teacher's exercises and then write down the solutions on paper.
A teacher took Dao to an English center to study IELTS. In the early days, Dao struggled. Many days, Dao sat in class from morning to night to study. Seeing this, the IELTS teacher gave Dao the key to the center so she could sleep there, reduced her tuition, and let her choose any class.
To cover living expenses in Hanoi, Dao was given favorable conditions by teachers at the Institute and signed a contract to work as a researcher. Dao said that although she received support from many teachers and friends, there were times when she felt lonely. Once, after an accident and breaking her arm, Dao called her parents and cried. Dao also wondered about the path she was taking, but then reassured herself that she had to continue.
Thanks to the guidance of his teachers, Dao applied and was awarded master's scholarships by 8 universities in France, including Paris-Saclay University, Lyon University, Toulouse, Nantes... At this time, through the introduction of Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Dang Ky, a lecturer in Mathematics at Quy Nhon University, Dao also learned about the doctoral scholarship in the Mathematics Department of Wayne State University, USA.
"At that time, I had only scored 5.5 on the IELTS, while the requirement was 6.5, and I still had incorrect pronunciation, so even though I was called for an interview, I didn't have much hope that I could go to the US," Dao recalled. However, Dao's research direction was suitable for the interviewing professor. In response to concerns about Dao's language and integration abilities, Dr. Ky wrote a "guarantee" letter, saying he believed Dao would overcome them. According to Dao, thanks to the teacher's reputation, the next day she received an acceptance letter and a scholarship to pursue a major in Harmonic Analysis Mathematics.
In July 2016, Dao came to the US. Dao decided to improve her English because she understood that it was very important for work and daily life. Dao worked hard to speak and talk, then asked some foreign friends to correct each sound until she got it right.
"The teachers were very impressed because after just a few months I was no longer self-conscious about my English and could talk comfortably with everyone," Dao said. After a short time, Dao began teaching classes and supporting students in the department.
In 2021, Dao graduated and started looking for jobs. At this time, Dao had about 10 international publications in the field of Optimal Control. Determined to only like research, Dao prepared documents and recommendation letters to send to nearly 80 universities instead of applying to businesses.
As a result, Dao received 70 Zoom interview appointments and 8 in-person interviews at the school, including big names such as Berkeley University, Yale, Rice, and Johns Hopkins.
In the final round, Dao had to visit three schools in one week, each for two days. There, Dao presented his research to the board, demonstrating his research and teaching abilities. This round, according to Dao, was mainly for the schools to see if the candidate's personality and behavior were suitable for the school's culture. Some schools required Dao to meet and interact with students and teach a trial lesson.
"By the last day, I couldn't laugh anymore because I was so tired," Dao recalled. Of the seven places he was accepted to, Dao chose to become an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dao also accepted a research position on optimizing radiation treatment times for brain tumors at Beaumont Hospital, the largest in Michigan.
On the first day of teaching graduate students at Michigan, Dao was not surprised because the only difference was the way to support students in approaching the problem, the rest was similar to when Dao taught at Wayne State. In addition, Dao had studied some pedagogical subjects in Vietnam, so he could handle situations easily.
"For example, in a problem solving equation, in Vietnam I was taught to change the sign, here they teach to add both sides to the same number (negative or positive), whatever we do on one side of the equation, we have to do the same thing on the other side, so it requires more logical thinking," Dao said. Dao also enjoys it when students ask a lot of questions, not only in class but also during discussions outside of class.
On the University of Michigan Ann Arbor's faculty evaluation system, Dao received many positive responses.
"Dao is a great instructor. Very clear and concise. There is a fair amount of homework, but it really helps you understand the material and helps your grade. Dao provides all the tools I need and teaches me skills I will use in my job," one student wrote.
Dao and his sister (also a PhD in Mathematics), take a photo with their supervisor - Boris Mordukhovich and Professor Ralph Tyrrell Rockafellar - one of the leading scholars in Optimization theory. Photo: Provided by the character
Earlier this year, Dao received news that he had been accepted for a first-level professor position at San Diego State University (in the US there are three levels of professorship: assistant professor, associate professor and full professor, level 1 being the first level).
Regarding job application experience, Dao said that you should read the recruitment notice carefully. In Dao’s case, you should consider whether they are recruiting Applied Mathematics in the Optimal Control field or other fields in the industry. Then, Dao uses the filter tool on the website to choose the field and school that he wants.
"You have to avoid not being able to answer information that is already on the web," Dao said, adding that she failed two interviews because of misinformation. In the third round, Dao prepared and practiced as much as possible in advance.
Talking about his former student in Quy Nhon, Associate Professor Dr. Luong Dang Ky commented that Dao was capable, individualistic and strong. During his school days, Dao showed his passion for Mathematics and always sought new research directions.
"I felt that Dao would succeed. That's why I wrote a letter to my colleague at Wayne State University when he was concerned about Dao's English ability," Dr. Ky recalled. According to him, with Mathematics, geographical conditions are not important. To study Mathematics, in addition to ability, the most important thing is passion and perseverance to go the long way. Dao succeeded because he had all of that, even though he did not start out with outstanding medals in Mathematics.
Dao always considers herself lucky to have received help from teachers at Quy Nhon University and the Institute of Mathematics. This motivates Dao, making her eager to contribute to supporting Vietnamese students pursuing Mathematics in the US.
As for herself, according to Dao, perhaps the secret is to always move forward step by step and be optimistic.
"My father's puzzles or the days of studying with teachers, chatting with friends at the beach, solving math problems in Quy Nhon city, naturally led me to love math," Dao said.
Doan Hung
Source link
Comment (0)