UF mathematics education professor Thomasenia Adams may be well known in her field–as author of the nationally circulated “Go Math” textbook series, for example, or as the College of Education’s first African-American woman tenured professor. Or, as the college’s newly appointed associate dean for research and faculty development.
But you wouldn’t expect Adams to be the subject of a four-minute profile on ESPNU, a television channel that specializes in college sports. That’s where you can find her this week, though, on the channel’s special academic series, “SEC Stories of Success.” The program profiles “heroes” in academics from the campuses of the Southeastern Conference universities.
ESPNU’s profile of Adams aired Thursday (May 31) at 5 p.m., but it’s still available on the network’s website at http://ftp.winnercomm.com/clients/SEC/AS2/SEC_UF.mov. The spot depicts Adams’ emergence from a child who hated math to the nationally prominent mathematics scholar she is today. She has been a UF education faculty member since 1993 and her “Go Math” textbook series is used in schools around the nation.
Adams has been working with UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning to bring its award-winning Master Teacher Initiative to math and science educators in secondary schools around the state, and she also served on a state Department of Education panel charged with updating Florida’s Sunshine State Standards for mathematics at the K-12 level. She is a 2010 graduate of the Higher Education Resource Services Institute for Women in Higher Education, an elite leadership program for women professors and administrators.
CONTACTS
SOURCE: Thomasenia Adams, professor in mathematics education and associate dean for research and faculty development, UF College of Education, 352-273-4116; tla@coe.ufl.edu
WRITER: Larry Lansford, director, news & communications, UF College of Education, 352-273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu