Comments such as "Jean Bee Chan is a perfect example of a student-centered educator through her teaching, scholarship and community service," says Saeid Rahimi, Dean of the School of Science & Technology, are among those that earned her the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Education Award.
Chan's contributions to the North Bay community for her work as an excellent teacher, wonderful mentor and active and productive member of the community, exemplify what it means to be a teacher, according to Rahimi.
Her many milestones throughout her 28 years at SSU include founding the M*A*T*H Colloquium in 1974, working with other faculty to start the award-winning Math Club, initiating a student-centered teaching method that revolutionaized math teaching at SSU, worked to have a place for students and to come together where intellectual discourse which later became the Math Lab, served as a mentor for the 11 years of the SSU Faculty Student Mentor program.
Jean is also very active in her community and became the founding and continuing judge of the Press Democrat's Youth Service Award, which encourages youths to serve their community. She volunteers her time as a tutor in the town in which she lives. Her annual work with the Expanding Your Horizons conference for girls in Marin County gives her the opportunity to touch the lives of the generation of students younger than college-aged.
Nationally, Jean has served as an officer of the Mathematical Association of America and has been selected to serve on their Board of Governors. Her reach extends well beyond the walls of SSU, reaching students across the country. In 1996 she received the Marin County Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award for her civil rights and human right work. In 1998, she earned the Marin Women's Hall of Fame Award for her work in education.
Also nominated from SSU were Mary Ann Nickel, School of Education; Rocky Rohwedder, Environmental Studies and Planning; and Tim Wandling, English Department, who were all recognized by the Santa Rosa Chamber as being excellent teachers and mentors.
The annual award honors one person from each level of education (elementary, secondary, vocational, colllege/university) who promote student achievement, spend time outside of class working with students and/or parents, serves a role model of life-long learning for fellow educators, and provides work-based learning opportunities for students both inside and outside the classroom.
