May 31, 2018

Meet Igor Fulman of Arizona State University in Tempe

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Igor Fulman.

Igor, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in the Soviet Union. I went to a school there, and later I studied at a university. I got a degree that was approximately equivalent to M.Sc. in mathematics.

Then my family immigrated to Israel. I studied at the Technion – Israeli Institute of Technology – and received my Ph.D. degree in mathematics.

Then I found a temporary 2-year job in the US. Then, another temporary (1-year) job in Copenhagen, Denmark. Then, yet another temporary (2-year) job in Calgary, Canada. In Calgary I met my future wife Olga, and we got married. Then I found yet another temporary job at ASU in Tempe. After my temporary job ended, they offered me permanent job, however this job was in teaching rather than in research that I did until that point. I agreed, and now I have been teaching at ASU for 17 years.

I advanced in my career: from Instructor to Lecturer, then to Senior Lecturer.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It was relatively smooth but of course there were some struggles.

The main struggles for me were attempts to find permanent job in research – which unfortunately I was not able to achieve, even though I sent out dozens of job applications every year.

Now I have a full-time teaching job that does not allow me to do my own research. But I try to do my best in this position. In the teaching job, too, there were some struggles, like dealing with very large classes. We used to have 40-student classes, but now we have 80- and 100-student classes. Besides, right now, a big struggle is about dealing with cheating students (unfortunately, there are quite many of them).

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Arizona State University – what should we know?
I work at the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Arizona State University. I teach mathematics, mostly calculus, but also other courses as assigned by the School.

Among standard math courses, I also teach one very non-standard course: Problem Solving Seminar. At this course, students learn how to solve very difficult and nonstandard mathematical problems, similar to those offered at mathematical competitions like the Putnam Competition. I like teaching this course very much. (When I was a student in the Soviet Union, I participated in similar competitions myself. I had my best achievement in year 1980 when, as a 9-grader, I took the 15-th place in the All-Soviet-Union mathematical Olympiad.)

This year, the ASU team at the Putnam Competition achieved very good results. Two of our participants were in the top 7%, the other two were in the top 15%, and the ASU team as a whole was in the top 5%.

Even in teaching standard courses, I try to do something different. For example, I have developed a system of printing paper exams that produces a distinct exam form for each student – similarly to online courses. This system reduces cheating, since each student has their own unique exam form.

Many students like my teaching, and many ask me whether I would teach other courses that they need to take. I consider this as appreciation of my teaching.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I want to mention my supervisor Scott Surgent, the director of the First-Year Mathematics division. He has helped me a lot and continues to help. He explained me various aspects of teaching job at ASU. He is always there to help with any situations that may arise.

And of course, all the rest of our team: lecturers, professors, secretaries, and everybody else – do their part to add to success of the School.

Contact Info:

Website: https://math.asu.edu
Phone: 480-965-3951
Email: Math@asu.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asu.math/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/asumathematics
Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/somss

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.