Cuny Honors Bmcc Professors Annie Han and Y-Chun Tricia Lin for Scholarly Achievements

December 16, 2002

CUNY HONORS BMCC PROFESSORS ANNIE HAN AND Y-CHUN TRICIA LIN FOR SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENTS

December 16, 2002

The City University of New York honored two Borough of Manhattan Community College Professors, Annie Han and Y-Chun Tricia Lin for their scholarship on December 10. Han, an assistant professor of mathematics, and Lin, an assistant professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), were among a select group of scholars who were recognized at a “Salute to Scholars” reception at the New York Public Library.

Left to right: Annie Han, honoree; Michael Gillespie, associate dean of academic affairs; Patricia Wilkinson, honoree; Yi Chun Tricia Lin, honoree; Sadie Bragg, senior vice president for academic affairs; John Montanez, director of grants.

 

Han was selected from mathematicians nationwide to receive the American Mathematics Society Travel Support for Young Mathematicians to attend the2002 International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing China. The Congress holds an international mathematics conference every four years. The 2002 conference was its 24th conference.

At the conference in Beijing, Han presented papers on “Using History of Mathematics In Teacher Education” and “Integrating the Mathlet into College Statistics Teaching and Learning.” “It was an honor and enlightening to attend, present, and exchange ideas at this world-class conference,” Han said.

Last year, Han received an Input Award from the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) for creative teaching in statistics.

In addition to teaching, Han actively promotes Asian culture. Since 1999, she has co-chaired the BMCC Asian Heritage Month Committee. She coordinates college-wide Asian culture activities during the Asian Heritage Month.

A resident of the Upper West Side near Columbia University, Han is also a founder of the Blue Sky Asian-American Research Foundation. This not-for-profit organization offers activities to promote Asian Culture and diversity on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. “We organize an annual Lunar New Year’s Celebration Party and a weekly Chinese Culture & Language Children’s Class,” she said. The classes integrate Chinese children’s songs, Asian children’s traditional playground games, ancient Chinese poems, calligraphy, art, and handcrafts. “The children learn the language and enjoy it, too,” she said.
Han also helps promote the New York City Hall Lions Club Chinese Scholarship program within the Chinese community and in her classes. She recommends students for the scholarship and helps out with the club’s annual fund-raising dinner.

Lin received a 2002 faculty research award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lin’s work in cultural studies compares the writing of Caribbean American authors with Asian/Pacific authors. Lin concentrates on writers from the Pacific basin, particularly from Hawaii and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Lin used the National Endowment for the Humanities award to study Pacific Islander writers including the Maori writers from New Zealand.

Many students from the Caribbean attend BMCC, and Lin has found that “students from the Caribbean can easily relate to the pidgin English of so many Caribbean American writers.”

“I felt both honored and humbled at the same time to be recognized among so many eminent scholars within the City University,” Lin said. “I said to myself, I would like to be invited back to future Salute to Scholars receptions,” she continued.

An active scholar and a dedicated teacher, Lin serves as the faculty advisor to the Writers’ Club, as co-chair of the Vassar Exploring Transfer/Research Program at BMCC, at and as coordinator of transfer applications from BMCC students to Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley Colleges.

Professor Lin also lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

In addition to Han and Lin, the Salute to Scholars Reception also honored Patricia Wilkinson, professor of mathematics and chairperson of the department at BMCC.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our faculty, especially when they are recognized by the university,” noted BMCC President Antonio Pérez.

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