UH West Oʻahu assistant mathematics professor honored

Dr. Linda Furuto recognized as member of PBN’s “Forty Under 40”

University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu
Contact:
Julie Funasaki Yuen, (808) 454-4870
Public Information Officer, Public Relations and Marketing Department
Posted: Jun 1, 2010

Dr. Linda Furuto
Dr. Linda Furuto
University of Hawai‘i–West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of Mathematics Linda Furuto was recently selected as one of Pacific Business News’ “Forty Under 40.” This impressive group represents Hawai‘i’s best and brightest business leaders under 40 years of age and honors accomplishments in and out of the workplace. Dr. Furuto and all members of the “Forty Under 40” class of 2010 will be honored at an awards ceremony on Thursday, June 17 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
 
Since growing up on O‘ahu’s North Shore, Dr. Furuto has spent a career in pursuit of academic excellence and placing the needs of students first. She is currently training to set sail on the Hokule‘a around the world in 2013 and in addition to being an avid surfer, spear-fisher and accomplished organist, her academic and leadership achievements are staggering.
 
After joining UH West O‘ahu, she successfully obtained a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Islands of Opportunity Alliance-Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program to develop the university’s math center that enhances the student experience through a culturally sensitive mathematics curriculum. The math center combines academic mentoring with personalized tutoring and real-world application. She has since obtained a grant from the UH Diversity and Equity Initiative for an ethnomathematics curriculum project that will bring together University of Hawai‘i mathematics faculty, students, and staff from various campuses to design and implement math lessons grounded in the ethnic, socioeconomic, historical and cultural diversities of Hawai‘i.
 
Dr. Furuto is a volunteer with the University of Hawai‘i Faculty Ambassadors Program where she shares her academic experiences with middle and high school students to foster their interest in pursuing higher education. She also remains active in her community, volunteering with the National Make a Difference Day. Furuto was also elected as four-year college director to the Board of Directors for the Hawai‘i Council of Teachers of Mathematics (HCTM), an organization that provides vision, leadership and professional development to support teachers in ensuring equitable math learning of the highest quality for all students.
 
“Linda uses her education and innovative blend of teaching methods to inspire hundreds of our students to think about mathematics in a whole new way, expanding their relationship with concepts that might otherwise be lost in typical classroom discourse,” said Gene Awakuni, chancellor, UH West O‘ahu. “Linda is one of the reasons we can all have confidence that the future is bright in Hawai‘i. Her insightfulness, mentorship, and personal generosity to today’s generation of students are all benefits to our communities, our university and our state.”
 
Prior to joining UH West O‘ahu, Dr. Furuto was a Visiting Scholar of Mathematics at the University of Tokyo and worked with students in the Boston public school system as a research-practitioner in Harvard University’s “Inventing the Future” project, a partnership dedicated to helping low-income youth through applied development work in mathematics. She taught mathematics and music at the L.D.S. Technical College in Fiji and collaborated with the East-West Center on the International Forum for Education 2020 initiative, a program that addresses the need for new paradigms in education to respond to transforming economic, social and cultural changes. In addition, she has researched and consulted at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., UCLA Center for International and Development Education in Los Angeles, and Pacific Resources for Education and Learning in Honolulu.
 
Dr. Furuto holds a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, a master’s degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.
 
About UH West O‘ahu
 
UH West O‘ahu became a four-year, regional comprehensive university when it served its first class of freshmen in fall 2007. The university offers quality education, small classes and personalized attention at convenient locations. Construction is set to begin in August 2010 on the first phase of a new, state-of-the-art UH West O‘ahu campus in the City of Kapolei. It is expected to serve more than 2,750 students for spring 2012 classes. For more information, visit http://www.uhwo.hawaii.edu, http://www.twitter.com/uhwestoahu, http://www.facebook.com/uhwestoahu or call 454-4700 or toll-free (866) 299-8656.