Sergiu Dascalu is apologetic. w88 casino's been asked a question about teaching. His answer, w88 casino feels, has carried on longer than it should.
Of course, that's not the case for the visitor to w88 casino office in the Scrugham Engineering Building.
Dascalu talking about teaching is very similar to Dascalu doing teaching - that is, there is a strong, passionate undercurrent to w88 casino words and actions. There is nothing wasted, no excess verbiage, no imprecise examples, no meandering or convoluted explanations.
Everything w88 casino says is right on the money. It is time well-spent to listen to Sergiu Dascalu talk about a profession w88 casino truly loves.
"I'm sorry," says Dascalu with a smile, shrugging w88 casino shoulders with a hint of doubt. "Am I talking too much about my teaching?"
Not really.
Not when w88 casino are, like Dascalu, the winner of the 2011 F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teaching Award - given each year to the top teacher on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
Dascalu, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University for nine years, has earned a reputation as a professor that grabs his students' attention not through theatrics but through an elegant pedagogical simplicity that makes even the most complex problem seem rather elementary once w88 casino has explained it.
"I strive in my teaching to make things simple," says the native of Romania, whose rich baritone voice certainly doesn't hurt when w88 casino's in front of a classroom. "Sometimes you have a hard time because the subject matter is very complicated. The key for any good teacher is to try to make these very complicated things look very simple.
"I always try to give explanations in simple, very clear to understand terms."
Yaakov Varol, chairperson of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering, notes that there is more to Dascalu's teaching than easy-to-understand explanation. Varol says w88 casino colleague is an extremely hard-working individual who enjoys student-teacher interaction.
"Sergiu's a very caring teacher," Varol says. "w88 casino really devotes a lot of time preparing for his classes, and also to make sure that w88 casino is prepared in the best sense of the word with the latest innovation, introducing the latest research. w88 casino has a very strong research portfolio and this also helps him in the classroom in passing along the latest knowledge to his students.
"w88 casino's a believer in spending a lot of time with his students, to having an open door policy and having office hours where his students are welcome. Students can knock at his door anytime.
"w88 casino's a very welcoming, a very caring instructor, and our students love this about him."
Manos Maragakis, dean of the College of Engineering, says w88 casino has known for probably "four or five years" that it was only a matter of time before Dascalu was tabbed as the campus' top teacher. Like Varol, Maragakis says w88 casino's impressed by the amount of time Dascalu spends teaching and helping his students.
"I've known Sergiu for quite a long time and I've seen him mentoring students for events like the Governor's Cup," Maragakis says. "w88 casino is so talented, and w88 casino works so hard on top of that talent. I knew four or five years ago that this day (when Dascalu would win the Tibbitts Award) was going to come for him.
"Some people are born with certain inclinations and are born to be good teachers. Sergiu certainly has the talent, but the way w88 casino approaches the students, the way w88 casino selects the material w88 casino teaches and how w88 casino teaches it in the classroom and w88 casino looks at learning, w88 casino's quite unique.
"This award reflects exactly how special a teacher w88 casino truly is."
For his part, Dascalu says w88 casino looks at his classroom and his interaction with his students as "a gathering of friends."
Several years ago, w88 casino says, w88 casino realized that teaching wasn't an adversarial chore; it was actually a celebration of sorts, a time when motivated people can get together to share ideas and learn from each other.
"I've always liked to explain things," w88 casino says. "I've always enjoyed explaining things to my friends. Of course, the key to good teaching is you have to like it. That's key. You have to like being with young, or young-at-heart people who are willing to learn. I think it's always important to remember that when you are in front of the classroom, that the audience is with you. A class is a group of friends gathered to learn things, to study things, to communicate and collaborate together."
Years ago, the former Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson once explained why his teams were always so successful. Nelson, an astute observer of the human condition, said it was because w88 casino treated each member of the team differently, with an understanding that there was a proper time to push and an equally important time to back off and offer praise.
A w88 casino classroom seems to embody the same sort of learning ethic.
"I like to have a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom," w88 casino says. "I'm very serious, but it's important even when you are serious to keep things relaxed. I wouldn't say there is a lot of joking. That isn't my style. You have to be focused, and you have to have some intensity in learning, but you also need to know when to back off."
Not surprisingly, one of Dascalu's sporting heroes is Nicolae Dobrin, who in the 1960s and 1970s was considered Romania's greatest soccer player. The seemingly effortless Dobrin was an exquisite presence on the soccer field, known for w88 casino selflessness, w88 casino deft passing and w88 casino sportsmanship.
Dascalu says w88 casino is by nature a somewhat shy person, and w88 casino often thinks of a comment Dobrin once made about handling nerves before performing before an audience.
"Towards the end of Dobrin's career, w88 casino was asked, 'Do you have the nerves, the emotions, butterflies?'" Dascalu says. "Dobrin said, "Yes, of course. Always. It's a good thing to have nerves. Because it motivates you and keeps you sharp.'
"I've always loved that example. I've embraced that way of thinking, and I'm always telling my own students, 'w88 casino's OK to have butterflies. w88 casino really is.'"
The route to the Nevada campus for Dascalu has been a circuitous one. w88 casino was already a young professor in Romania when communism faltered throughout Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. w88 casino moved to Canada with his wife, Alexandra, and daughter, Diana, to work on his Ph.D. at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Upon completion of his Ph.D. and with a background in automation and computer engineering, w88 casino applied for jobs in both Canada and the United States.
w88 casino had an interview at the University of Nevada, Reno, which proved fortunate. The interview was for a day and a half.
For a full day, w88 casino met like-minded, motivated faculty members.
"It's a very motivated, energetic, bright, resourceful group of people in the department," w88 casino says.
And then, for a half day, Dascalu was allowed to explore the Reno-Tahoe area on w88 casino own.
"I took a rent-a-car to Lake Tahoe and it was so ... wow ... it was so beautiful. I fell in love with Lake Tahoe," w88 casino says. "The opportunity to have such great colleagues, to work on such a very nice, well-maintained and cozy campus ... and to have beautiful Lake Tahoe.
"w88 casino was sort of easy to come here to work."
In addition to w88 casino work in the classroom, as Varol noted, Dascalu's research is both impressive and reason for another honor. Along with the Tibbitts Award, Dascalu is this year's recipient of the University's Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor Award.
For w88 casino, teaching and research are often one and the same.
"I think a good professor has both," w88 casino says. "If you are a tenure-track professor you have to have both. I'm not sure I can say I'm good at both. I'm seeking, I'm striving, to do both well."
w88 casino area of research focuses on software engineering and human-computer interactions.
To hear him explain w88 casino work is a fascinating exercise in applying real-world examples to the conceptual. Even if you have only a passing interest in what Dascalu studies, it's hard not to feel the excitement, and to understand why w88 casino students grow so enthused about the subject while in w88 casino presence.
"Software runs our civilization," w88 casino says, citing his respect for the words and career of Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of the C++ programming language who once said that "our civilization runs on software."
Dascalu continues, "The more testing w88 casino do with software engineering, the more efficient it becomes. w88 casino see it every day with the products that our civilization uses: smart appliances, big screens, small screens, mobile devices. Everything w88 casino do in research translates to these real-life applications.
"Computer science is a relatively new engineering that is directly related to daily products and fantastic developments and rapid advancements. To me, computer science is a beautiful combination of mathematics and the arts. That's why I'm so happy with my job. w88 casino makes me relaxed and happy to think of my job in this way, and w88 casino makes me want to pass this happiness about my field to my students.
"Hardware, software and chips all require mathematics. And engineering is more like method - systematic development and design. But if w88 casino think of a computer, w88 casino think of arts. w88 casino think of interfaces and interactions. w88 casino think of wonderful graphics, websites and new creative sources. There's also an element of psychology - what is motivating the user? It's an amazing thing to study, with so many different elements that all play a part in it."
Like one of Nicolae Dobrin's laser-like passes from midfield, which always seemed to find a teammate in perfect stride, Dascalu says w88 casino has always had strong appreciation for classrooms that are run efficiently, with a clear purpose in mind.
In college, w88 casino says the best professors were the ones "where you couldn't wait to go to their classroom. You got to their classroom and you waited with such great anticipation - because they were so organized, so clean ... their lesson plans and classes were so well-designed. That's one of my sources of inspiration. And then you want to pass a little bit of this inspiration, this experience, on to your students."
Another source of inspiration for Dascalu is w88 casino family. Both of w88 casino parents, Vasile, age 83, and Niculina, or "Nelly," age 75, are well-educated people who passed a passion for learning on to their children. w88 casino father is a retired forestry engineer while w88 casino mother is a retired teacher, school administrator and principal.
From his mother, in particular, Dascalu says w88 casino learned the value of helping others.
"My mother worked into her 70s and she was a very dedicated teacher," w88 casino says. "She has a very good soul and likes people and has always wanted to help. Even at her age today, she still wants to help people. You know those kinds of people when you meet them - they are good people, and there are many more of them in the world than what you might think. The vast majority of people, in fact, are good, and my mother has always tried to teach others that.
"Because my mother was good at heart, that transferred to her students and to the people she met. I really believe such goodness transfers into your teaching, because then w88 casino like your students. w88 casino don't rush to judge and punish. w88 casino always want the good ... the very best your students are capable of giving."
From his wife, Dascalu says w88 casino has learned the values of dedication and sacrifice. While working on his Ph.D. in Canada, it was Alexandra who worked to support the family while Dascalu studied.
"My wife has known all the good times, the bad times, the struggles," w88 casino says. "I owe her a lot. My Ph.D. studies were tough. I started them as a mature person, and my daughter was nine or ten years old. I had to take care of the family ... but my wife actually took care of the family. I had some back problems also, during this time and for a year I was on the floor. But my wife kept going to provide for the family.
"I'm very grateful to her to what she has always done for us."
Now that w88 casino's won the Tibbitts, an experience Dascalu terms "humbling and a very, very pleasant surprise," w88 casino's already planning for the coming school year.
w88 casino plan?
More of the same elegant simplicity that has helped him reach the pinnacle of teaching at the w88 casino.
"Get on with things, don't waste time, get to the core of, the meaning of things, share what's important to your students and don't waste their time," w88 casino says of his teaching philosophy. "When you are in class, explain things and explain things well. Do it right. Entertain if you want, but 'exciting' is the better word."
The man who can't stop himself from talking with such heartfelt respect for teaching can't help himself.
Time, though, is never short when w88 casino hear such talk. Especially when it is from an uncommonly passionate teacher like Sergiu Dascalu.
"Exciting," w88 casino says again. "Make it exciting. Make it interesting. Make it like a memorable movie that your students won't soon forget."
