Professor mixes math and mammels
Editor’s note: The Variety section of the Statesman will periodically spotlight a member of the USU faculty. Knowing more about the people they learn from will help students get more from their education.
Two horses, two llamas, one goat, two dogs and seven cats all reside in Millville with Jean Culbertson, a math teacher at Utah State University. In her spare time, Culbertson also teaches algebra, geometry and pre-calculus to ninth graders at South Cache in Hyrum. She was given her two llamas by a veterinarian friend who had bought them so the horses would get used to being around them. Among Culbertson’s other hobbies are riding horses, knitting, sewing, crocheting, and doing crafts. It is not surprising that Culbertson loves animals, she wanted to be a veterinarian, but her father wouldn’t hear of it. “Dad said … it’s not a fit profession for a woman,” Culbertson said. So she decided to become a math teacher to please her father. Culbertson received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of Southern California with a minor in philosophy. She began her teaching career in California where she taught sixth, seventh and eighth graders. In 1980, she moved to Millville to teach at USU. “I thought college kids would be much more mature … Wrong,” Culbertson said. It turns out she has heard the same homework excuses no matter what the age group. When asked if math was easy for her, she said that she, too, had to struggle through some of it. “I think that makes me a better teacher, because I know where the students are coming from when they have trouble,” she said. Initially, Culbertson was hired at USU from year to year. “There was no job security,” she said, so she took a job at South Cache while she attained her master’s at USU in education, specializing in mathematics. Culbertson is still looking for an opportunity to teach college full time. “If the right job opportunity opened up, I would,” she said. Culbertson also teaches a seminar in secondary education for math teachers. Her future goals include another eight years of teaching before retirement. “I would like to be able to maintain the lifestyle I have grown accustomed to.”