TAYLOR OLANDT
Staff Writer
If mathematics is the poetry of logical ideas, and great teachers teach from the heart, not the book, then Don Hancock must be one heck of a poet.
This year marks Don Hancock’s 27th year teaching mathematics at Pepperdine University. He is a native Southern Californian, and has two sons who both attend Pepperdine. Among the many reasons for choosing to live and work here is the sun-kissed Malibu mountains and the Pacific Ocean that runs its dazzling length for miles.
Thirty-five years ago Thompson was a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, living a life similar to the one he leads now. There were days that stretched for years, a sun bright enough to make summer last year-round, and ocean waves that reached the sky. Only back then, he was studying math, not teaching it.
He and his wife were married shortly after they received their bachelor’s degree, and he ventured off to the next chapter of his life, graduate school, where he began teaching math as a student assistant.
It has been said that teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. Teaching in large auditoriums that seated more than 200 students gave Hancock the feeling that he was on a stage performing a play, which did not let him get personal with his students.
“The only thing you can see up there are the faces in the first few rows, everything beyond that is darkness,” he said. “There is no way to connect with your students on a teaching level when you are on a platform.”
This led him to Oberlin University, which is a small, highly selective liberal arts college in Ohio. Shortly after teaching there, he moved to Pepperdine University because of the Christian values and Southern California location.
At Pepperdine he teaches Real Analysis, Algebraic Methods, Linear Algebra, Calculus I and Calculus III. Of all the courses, he enjoys Real Analysis and Abstract Algebra because, as he says, “they are the most advanced. In a first-year math class, one can have many problems that each takes a short amount of time. But these challenging courses involve minimal problems, but each requires many steps and proofs. It is very logical and yet very creative.”
Albert Einstein once said that God does not care about our mathematical difficulties; He integrates empirically. “Math is one of those subjects you grow up either loving or hating, but regardless,” according to Hancock, “it is applied to our lives each day. You use math in almost every class you take. It is imperative to understand mathematics and its logic when developing problem solving abilities.
“Having a strong grasp on math helps you get jobs and make good financial decisions.”
Hancock’s son Matt Hancock, a sophomore at Pepperdine, says that in three words he could describe his father as “passionate, hard-working, and genuine.” His father’s passion for math has influenced his own, as he and his older brother Brent, a senior at Pepperdine, are both majoring in math.
“The thing that’s wonderful about math,” Don Hancock informs, “is that your laboratory can be taken everywhere — the beach, a hike, vacation, work. Math can be very theoretical and computers are not always necessary. It is in many ways creative and philosophical.”
Zohair Isshak, a new calculus teacher at Pepperdine, calls Hancock is “a super-nice guy. He is always the earliest to be here at work and many times has covered my classes for me. He doesn’t say all that much but once we ate lunch together and I was astounded by how knowledgeable he was. His students are very lucky.”
Hancock is good at what he does mainly because of his enthusiasm in mathematics. The greatest piece of advice he was given came from a professor that taught at his graduate school.
“At the time of my graduate studying the market for higher education was very poor, and classes were very difficult. A wise professor once said to me, ‘I hope later in life you enjoy what you liked as a student.’
“Those words were ineffective to me then, and I dismissed their value until now. I look back and am so lucky to be doing everyday what I love to do. It truly is a blessing.”
05-18-2007