丹尼斯·吉廷格数学奖学金
(所有大学奖学金和项目基金，代码400036)
This scholarship is for students with potential to excel in math and was created by our amazing instructor Dennis Gittinger, who continues to serve students every day at 西北维斯塔学院.
摘自一篇《航空杂志上文章:
Dennis started his career at a local middle school but soon found his way to the 阿拉莫大学 and eventually landed at 西北维斯塔学院.
尽管一路上有一些用NVC写的漂亮的标题, Dennis has always considered himself a math teacher at heart.
他曾和圣. Philip’s Math Department for 25-and-a-half years when he was invited by the chancellor at that time to be an academic cluster leader at NVC. At first he declined the offer because he liked teaching at St. Philip’s and was having fun, but he soon realized the opportunity in helping a college get started.
Dennis said a lot has changed in the 40+ years he’s been teaching.
“我学生的人口结构发生了很大变化. In the 1970s, most of my students were men and many were Vietnam veterans. 平均年龄为27岁. Now, most of my students are women and they are generally in their late teens or early 20s.”
他补充说，在雷士的15年里，现在的情况也大不相同. He’s also among just a handful of faculty members on campus who are still here after being hired in the mid-to-late 1990s.
“What I miss is seeing the ‘old timers’ and knowing everyone by name. It’s good we (NVC) are growing and maintaining our values because that’s hard to do.”
丹尼斯因病从美国退役后不久.S. Army in 1969 after an injury in Vietnam, he became an eighth-grade math teacher. 他这样做了一年，直到他去了圣. 菲利普的大学. 当时，在1972年，该地区只有St. 菲利普的大学 and 圣安东尼奥学院 and was called the 圣安东尼奥 Union Junior 大学 区.
“I like my job and have learned to like it more now than when I first started. I have more optimism about society and feel like it’s my job to teach the next generation and hopefully teach them what took a lifetime for me to learn.”
After being lured to NVC and serving as academic leaders in different departments, 比如数学, 科学, 艺术和人文, 丹尼斯在2001年回到了他最初热爱的教学工作. 从他不同的位置, 他知道当事情出错时, 不是因为预算, 它来自于人类的互动.
“The challenge is to make sure human interaction is as good as it can be and when a relationship is damaged, 需要一个疗伤的过程. I like the old saying, people don’t remember what you said but they remember how you made them feel. What we need at NVC to become great is to make everyone feel that the workplace is so wonderful that they will want to give discretionary effort, 这是他们做的所有超出要求的事情.”
Dennis also tries to impart a little wisdom to his students while teaching a subject—math—that that many of us would shy away from. 事实上，他会让他的学生说他们讨厌数学.
“Most people don’t see how math as a consumer can help you make better choices in life. 例如, 当涉及到抵押贷款时, learning about amortization and how to pay down a loan faster will help you in the long run. 所有这些都是应用数学，它可以丰富你的生活.”
Dennis says the best thing about his job is helping to turn on the light in a student’s head when he or she finally gets it.
教学生最有价值的部分, 丹尼斯补充道, is making positive differences in their lives and giving them the skills to help them improve their math knowledge.
丹尼斯不上课的时候, 你可以在Huisache Hall健身中心找到他, 写诗, 或者与家人共度时光.
“I now come to the point in my life where my hobby is my life because it’s so wonderful. 我的家庭是我的爱好.”