STEM: Denison's Sarah Wolff loves the challenge of math
GRANVILLE – Sarah Wolff grew up dreaming of becoming a teacher. “I kept changing the subject and grade level that I planned to teach,” she recalled, “but I knew for sure I wanted to be a teacher.”
“In high school,” she continued, “I mostly forgot about that dream. It wasn’t until my first teaching experience in graduate school that I re-realized how passionate I am about teaching.”
Since 2015, Wolff has been teaching a “full range” of mathematics courses at Denison University – calculus through upper level theory classes.
“I love teaching mathematics,” she said. “Watching students grow as mathematicians and people is the biggest highlight.”
“I love the challenge of mathematics,” she added. “The longer it takes to solve a problem (hours, days, months, years!), the more satisfying it is when you finally reach the solution. I also love the creativity in mathematics. Mathematics, particularly theoretical mathematics, is really all about finding creative solutions to difficult problems, expressing ideas precisely, and making logical connections.”
Wolff grew up in Arlington, Virginia outside Washington, DC. She went to Yorktown High School and then Colorado College (where she was recruited to play Division-I soccer). She majored in mathematics with a minor in Spanish and physics. She then earned her master’s and Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.
“I was neither interested nor disinterested in mathematics growing up,” she said. “I was good at it, and I liked doing my homework, but I never thought about it as a career. Both my parents were engineers and I wanted to be different, so that’s probably why I didn’t think about math much.”
She credits her change in heart, at least in part, to her “outstanding faculty mentors at CC.”
“I would never have gone to graduate school without their support,” she explained. “I didn’t even know it was an option for someone like me! One of my professors encouraged me to apply for the George Washington Summer Program for Women in Mathematics. This program was where I first learned about graduate school and met an entire cohort of women just like me, all of whom were planning on pursuing a Ph.D.”
“It was so inspiring,” she added. “I learned about summer research from that program, and the following summer participated in an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates at Harvey Mudd College. This further solidified my desire to go to graduate school.”
Now, years into the profession, she says it’s “difficult to call myself a role model, as you can’t really just choose to be someone’s role model. But I definitely try to be a strong mentor for all my women students.”
“I advocate for them as tutors and teaching assistants, and for department awards,” she summed. “I mentor them in summer research or help them look for summer opportunities. I send them to conferences. And I bring in speakers who are great role models and organize lunches with those speakers to help them build their network.”
About the series
This story is part of an ongoing Business Advocate series about women in STEM careers. If you have a story suggestion, email advocate@newarkadvocate.com.