Meet the Professors
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2006; also taught part time at Parkland College and served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University.
Subjects taught at CLC: Algebra, pre-calculus, calculus, discrete mathematics and general education mathematics.
Education: B.A., Augustana College; M.A., Eastern Illinois University; M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Main goal in teaching: My main goal is to help students gain a deep understanding of the underlying concepts we are learning and move beyond the memorization of formulas. I also hope my students know that I care about them and their success, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2004; previously taught at the Keller Graduate School of Management, the University of Wisconsin, Lawrence University and Southern Illinois University.
Education: B.S., University of Wyoming; M.S., University of Wyoming; Ph.D., University of South Carolina.
Riyanti Boyd
Instructor, Mathematics
C162
847/543-2901
rboyd@clcillinois.edu
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2019, previously taught at CLC as an adjunct since 2013. She also taught high school chemistry and physical science in Illinois.
Education: B.S. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, M.S. Roosevelt University, M.S. Emporia State University.
Main goal in teaching: I would like students to appreciate mathematics for its beauty and complexity, not just its mechanics. I love it when students say that something makes sense or ask questions for clarification. I want students to have a positive math experience.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 1996; also taught as a teaching assistant at Kansas State University; authored a geometry textbook and an open-source mathematics course for heating, ventilating and air conditioning students.
Education: A.A., University of Maryland; B.S., University of Maryland; B.S., Kansas State University; M.S., Kansas State University.
Main goal in teaching: To reduce the number of people who say “I’m not good at math.”
Teaching full time at CLC since: 1989; previously taught at two Illinois high schools; received the 2011-12 Teaching Excellence Award from the Austin, Tex.-based National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development; current board member of the Illinois Mathematics Association of Community Colleges.
Subjects taught at CLC: Elementary mathematical concepts, algebra, geometry, mathematics for elementary teaching, trigonometry, finite mathematics, pre-calculus, statistics, calculus and analytic geometry.
Education: B.S. and M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Main goal in teaching: To change students’ perceptions that mathematics is a collection of processes that must be memorized. Mathematics is so much easier to understand when you concentrate on learning concepts, not memorizing procedures. I try to build classroom activities to foster conceptual learning. In my classes, we ask and seek answers to a lot of questions like, “What does this mean?” and “Why does this make sense?”
Teaching full time at CLC since: 1998; previously taught at Carthage College; received the 2016-2017 Teaching Excellence Award from National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development
Subjects taught at CLC: Algebra, general education statistics, finite mathematics, pre-calculus, business statistics, business calculus, and differential equations.
Education: B.S. and M.S., Marquette University.
Main goal in teaching: To have students see the applications of mathematics in the real world or the work place and to have the students appreciate its value. I want the students to have a great learning environment and challenge themselves to reach the next level in their educational journey.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2005; previously taught high school mathematics and computer science for two years in Pennsylvania. He also was a teaching assistant for college-level mathematics at Bowling Green State University and was a fulltime instructor at Prairie State College.
Education: B.S., Allegheny College; M.A., Bowling Green State University.
Main goal in teaching: To change students’ negative perceptions about mathematics and help them to see the beauty of math, but at a minimum, at least help them to have a positive math experience. Helping students is very rewarding and makes teaching a wonderful career.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2004; previously taught as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Education: M.S., University of Pittsburgh; M.A., Bowling Green State University.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2011; previously taught as a CLC adjunct for 10 years. She also taught high school and college math in Mississippi; served as an adjunct at two Mississippi colleges as well as National-Louis University and Roosevelt University.
Education: B.A., Luther College; M.S., Iowa State University.
Most memorable teaching experience: I once taught a quantitative literacy class, and one particular student was not successful on the testing portion of the class. But she wrote incredible papers, which were enough to put her on the passing bubble as we went into the final exam. She needed a 70 on the final to pass the class but had never scored above a 60 on any previous tests. She was the last one done and asked me to grade it before she left, as she had family coming in for graduation and if she failed the class she was going to tell them not to come. I didn’t want to grade it in front of her because I didn’t want to have to tell her if she failed—but I did it anyway. She sat silently with her head bowed while I graded. When I told her she got a 75 on the test, she and I both cried. It was a good day to be a teacher.
Education: B.S., Carroll College; M.S., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2014; previously taught at New York City’s Hunter College and Queensborough Community College.
Education: B.A., Queens College of the City University of New York; M.Phil., Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Education: B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; M.S., DePaul University; M.S., Roosevelt University.
Specialties: Discrete mathematics and graph theory.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2012; previously taught as a CLC adjunct; also taught at Elgin and Kankakee Community Colleges and was a teaching assistant at the University of Illinois.
Education: B.S. and M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2009; as a National Science Foundation fellow, Professor Nehring worked at a northern Minnesota middle school, encouraging Native Americans to pursue careers in mathematics.
Education: B.S. and M.S., University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Main goal in teaching: Math is more than just arithmetic, algebra and geometry. There is a vast array of topics within the field, which is what makes it interesting to me. I want to expose students to these other topics so they can see that there is something for everyone! I hope to build my students’ skills, so they can move forward with strong confidence in their mathematical abilities.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2018; previously taught as a CLC adjunct since 2010; also taught at Loyola University Chicago and Lake Forest College.
Subjects taught at CLC: Algebra, Quantitative Literacy, Pre-calculus, Calculus and
Analytic Geometry, General Education Statistics, Business Statistics.
Education: B.S., Universidad de Lima, Peru; M.S., Loyola University Chicago.
Education: B.S. and M.A., Truman State University.
Specialties: Functional analysis and linear algebra.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2006; previously taught as an adjunct at Marquette University. He also taught seven years at Bowling Green State University as a graduate teaching assistant.
Subjects taught at CLC: Basic algebra, calculus and analytic geometry, linear algebra and more. Professor Rolli has published in the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications.
Education: B.S., Trine University; M.A. and Ph.D., Bowling Green State University.
What I do to engage students: I try to develop a rapport with my students by talking with them inside and outside the classroom to figure out their mathematical background, their academic goals and concerns and their personal interests. Academically, I set high expectations for students; expecting them to be responsible for their own attendance, actions and work. A student who transferred to Northern Illinois University and took calculus classes there, emailed me to thank me for teaching her to be a more prepared student and to learn math throughout the entire semester instead of cramming. It makes teaching a rewarding job when I see students growing both intellectually and personally.
Education: B.A., Bradley University; M.S., Purdue University.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2014; previously taught for four years as a CLC adjunct. He also was math instructor and department chair at Wauconda High School from 2002 to 2014.
Education: B.A., Trinity International University; M.S., Northeastern Illinois University.
Education: B.A., Northwestern University; M.S., Northern Illinois University; Ph.D., University of Illinois-Chicago.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2002
Education: B.S., University of Illinois; M.A., Eastern Illinois University.
Teaching full time at CLC since: 2012; previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Subjects taught at CLC: Algebra, quantitative literacy, pre-calculus, calculus and analytic geometry, ordinary differential equations. Professor Wyniawskyj is a member of Project ACCCESS, a professional development program offered through the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges.
Education: A.A., North Central Michigan College, B.S., Northern Michigan University, M.S., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
What I do to engage students: I always have lots of energy and try to not get lost in the typical lecture style in a lot of mathematics classes. I use varying styles of instruction and activities, and I use humor so that no one gets bored!