Jean Springer
Professor Jean Springer is a renowned educator who has an undying love for mathematics and teaching. She is one of the first Caribbean women to have pursued and excelled as a mathematics educator at the university level and remains an icon for thousands of youth today thinking of pursuing a career in the sciences.
Jean Springer was born in Kingston, Jamaica on September 12th, 1939. Her parents were both school teachers for mathematics and physics. From an early age, Springer was exposed to the sciences and fell deeply in love with the sciences. As a student, she often carried a textbook with her to read on her way to school, at traffic lights, the grocery store and even hockey games. Her parents had Jean home-schooled until six years old, where she then attended Wolmer’s High School for Girls and later continued her post-secondary studies at the University of West Indies at Mona. Although her initial area of study was medicine, she later switched courses and graduated with a B.Sc. in mathematics and physics, achieving “Student of the Year.”
Upon graduation, she and her husband went back to his home country, Trinidad where Springer started to teach at the Naparima Boys’ College and later, Point Fortin College. She later immigrated to Canada and served as a professor of mathematics at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta who specialized in abstract algebra and was even later promoted to Chair of the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Engineering. During her years of teaching, she stressed the importance of making classrooms a “safe place for questions” and listening carefully to answer questions in order to understand what problems each student is having specifically. By putting her own love for mathematics into every lecture, she helped her students not only master the subject but also overcome their dislike or fear of it. Springer has taught at other universities including the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the University of Calgary where she continues to teach even during her days of retirement. Additionally, she is also the treasurer of the Mount Royal College Alumni Association and Chair of the Alberta Women’s Science Network. During her retirement years, Jean finds enjoyment through gardening, woodworking, writing, storytelling, photography and creating puzzles and games for her grandchildren.
Jean Springer’s love for learning, optimism about the future and her perseverance, inspires youth to pursue their passions. Her biggest motto in life is “age quod agis” which translates to “Do whatever you do well.” She advises all students thinking of pursuing careers within science to “follow your dream, aim high, fight shy and keep nigh.”