For the last 25 academic years, Professor Daryl Stephens has helped direct the mathematics department here at ETSU.
Stephens currently holds the positions of associate professor, associate chair and as an advisor for both mathematics majors and minors.
According to Stephens back in 2003, budget reconstruction allowed for him to be integrated in the math department from the Division of Developmental Studies. From then on, he recognized that his role at the university was about to change.
“We were welcomed and became involved in the life of the department pretty quickly,” Stephens said. “I love the people I work with at ETSU.”
Stephens spent his childhood in Denton, Texas, which is about 30 miles north of the city of Dallas. As a youth, he was influenced by a highly educated home and neighborhood.
“My dad was a business professor at the University of North Texas for 36 years, and my mother was a teacher until I was born,” Stephens said. “Both parents were first-generation college students.”
Between his parents’ educational background and the advising of teaching professionals, Stephens decided to attend the University of North Texas to become a future education professional. It was not until a class at North Texas that he found his true calling.
“I didn’t really have a favorite subject in high school, but while taking the math for elementary majors course, I decided to make math my teaching field, because the professor came in almost every day and said there was a shortage of math teachers, and I thought that would improve my job chances,” Stephens said. “There’s still a shortage of math teachers almost four decades later.”
After graduating from North Texas, Stephens decided to teach middle school mathematics in McKinney, Texas. This experience was a revelation to Stephens, in that he was cut out to teach adults and not be in charge of adolescents.
“After some career advice, I decided to move on to teaching adults, which meant getting another master’s degree,” Stephens said. “My days are much less tiring and much less stressful at ETSU.”
Ever since, Stephens got his doctorate in education and continues to help the ETSU community in any way he can. Outside of the classroom, Stephens is heavily involved in music, as the College of Music at North Texas influenced him from an early age to be interested in the subject.
“I never had a desire to be a professional musician, but I love doing musical things, especially singing in choirs,” Stephens said. “I also try to attend concerts as much as I have time for: Choral concerts, ETSU recitals, jazz concerts, and I have season tickets to the Johnson City Symphony.”
