Tingting Tong

Carving a Path

Tingting Tong remembers peaceful summers as a child, playing in the cool, shallow waters of two rivers that converge at her small village in northern China. Several generations of her family were farmers there, and her father ran a small business in town. Theirs was a joyful, modest life, and she thrived in its simplicity. She never imagined she would begin her adult life passing on the values of hard work and dedication to a new generation of students in the United States.

Hypothesis test

Although Tingting loved her idyllic childhood in Tongxinzhuang, her options were limited after graduating from high school. Most of her friends dropped out of school to start families, and careers were almost non-existent for young women. “That was not the life I wanted.”

Although she was a good student, Tingting didn’t know what to study in college. Being around her father’s company and watching him balance the books led her to mathematics. “I knew that math is the foundation of many other subjects, so that’s the reason I chose it for my major,” she says.

She pursued a bachelor’s degree from Qingdao University on the northeastern coast of China, and four years later, graduated at the top of her class. “I discovered the beauty and charm of mathematics,” she adds. “Math is everywhere – in the things we read, the objects we see, in nature. I like the relationship between me and math – simple and pure.”

Statistically speaking

During college Tingting attended an academic conference where one of the speakers, NMSU professor Dr. Tonghui Wang, made an impression on her. “I thought, ‘Maybe I can find success by being a teacher to pass on the things I love about mathematics.’” She decided to explore New Mexico State University for her master’s degree, and six months later was living in Las Cruces, working in Dr. Wang’s research group.

“I want to help students excel in their future endeavors,” she explains. In addition to teaching new generations of math students at the college level, she wants to use her specialty in statistics to solve real-world problems.

Tingting received the Nita Swartz Endowed Scholarship in 2023, providing much-needed funding for graduate students pursuing the field of education. Now with a husband and baby daughter added to the equation, Tingting is grateful for the extra support. “My expenses are much higher than they were when I was single, so I am very thankful to Nita Swartz for this incredible gift.” She is also aware of the legacy of Nita’s husband, Dr. Charles Swartz, a 50+ year professor emeritus of mathematics at NMSU who authored many textbooks that still dot the bookshelves in Walden Hall.

From tacos to snow

Once Tingting receives her Ph.D. in mathematics next spring, she plans to remain in Las Cruces to teach for one more year as her husband completes his doctorate at NMSU. From there, the world is open to this young family.

“New Mexico has been wonderful – I love tacos (especially with green sauce), I enjoy taking my daughter swimming, and my husband likes going to basketball games,” she shares. “But there is much of the United States we would still like to explore, and we want to go somewhere with snow.” Boston, New York, Chicago and Denver all sound intriguing to Tingting.

Wherever they land, Tingting wants to continue sharing her love of math with students, and she predicts that her family will remain very down-to-earth. “Just the simple life for me.”

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