A Conversation With...
Dr. George Tintera

Q: Where did you grow up and how did you get here, (A&M-CC)?

A: I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. I attended Wabash College, a small liberal arts college. There were about 900 students at the time. It’s just a little bit larger now. When I was applying for graduate schools in mathematics, an alumni of my college gave a presentation and talked about how great the Mathematics Department was at UT-Austin. He was the department chair there. So off I went from Indiana to Texas. My first job was at Texas A & I in Kingsville (now TAMUK) in 1990 and I was there for four (4) years. I met my wife, Charlene, there and our daughter, Josephine, was born there. We later moved to Corpus Christi in 1994 when the first freshman class was admitted here. We’ve been here ever since. We now have two children, Benjamin is 8 and Josephine is now 10. I’ve always taught math and now am the Program Coordinator for Mathematics, here at Texas A & M University–Corpus Christi.

Q: What motivates you and has helped you become who you are today?

A: I like figuring things out. Mathematics has lots of problems that need sorting out.

Q: What makes you passionate about your field and teaching students?

A: I think math is valuable and helps arrange things. It can spell out relationships between things and makes them clear. If I can help someone use math to help themselves, then that’s what I’m here for.

Q: What course(s) are your favorite to teach?

A: Calculus II for right now is my favorite; partly because I can see how it lends itself to students so they can see beyond the questions and apply some of its’ ideas. Something I also try and do for students is, have them apply things they’ learned on their on terms.

Q: What co-curricular activities are you involved in, and how can students become involved with you in those activities?

A: I’m involved in the math club as a Faculty Advisor. We’re also trying to organize a chess club on campus. There are also some extracurricular activities I work with off campus. One of them is the Optimist Coastal Bend Chess Federation. We support chess teams in schools and tournaments. I also work with the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Texas, Inc. This is an organization for people who LOVE to play piano. We have a youth competition every two years. People from all over the country, come to play piano here in Corpus Christi.

Q: Outside of TAMUCC, what extracurricular activities are you involved in; what do you do for fun?

A: I mostly do things with the kids. My son’s a Cub Scout so we’ve gone camping doing; just doing the outdoor sort of things, keep us busy. If I had more free time, I’d go fishing.

Q: Who inspired you the most or had the greatest impact during your collegiate experience which directed you to your field of study?

A: A professor named William (Bill) Swift. He was at Wabash College. It wasn’t exactly what he did, but what he was. Before him, math was just doing problems to me. After you knew him, it was like figuring out things, just the way I like to.

Q: What is your greatest achievement and whom do you attribute this to?

A: The kids are my greatest achievement and I attribute all of that to my wife.

Q: What question does the study of Mathematics attempt to answer?

A: Well, math is the science of numbers and patterns. The question it answers is, can you make meaning of patterns and numbers where you may find them? The value of it all is that math is not just in any little corner of the world . You can find math anywhere, in all areas of your life.

Q: Wouldn’t be caught dead wearing?

A: A tattoo. Others may wear them, but I won’t.