Mathematics Professor Dr. Jessica Stewart Kelly has been named a Fulbright Scholar, a prestigious international honor that will open the door for her to do research and teach at a university in Graz, Austria, for a semester next year.

“I am honored and humbled to be named a Fulbright Scholar. The Fulbright Program is one of a select number of organizations whose name and recognition extends beyond my discipline and even academia,” said Kelly, who has been at CNU for 11 years. “Its reputation for academic excellence and meaningful global engagement is significant. Being part of this community connects me to a network of other scholars and educators. I feel excited for the opportunity and responsibility to contribute to the world in ways that impact beyond my immediate communities.”

The Fulbright Scholar Program was established in 1946 and awards more than 1,700 fellowships each year to academics and professionals, enabling 800 U.S. Scholars to go abroad and 900 Visiting Scholars to come to the United States. Kelly is the first CNU professor to be named a Fulbright Scholar since the 2015-16 academic year.

As a Fulbright, Kelly will spend October through January working at Graz University of Technology, which is part of a cooperative of universities in Graz focused on natural sciences. She will not only conduct research but also teach a graduate-level class. She is familiar with Graz, as she traveled there last summer as part of a CNU study abroad course.

“This is an ideal location for my research activities as members of the Institute for Applied Mathematics have considerable expertise in operator theory and spectral analysis. I am excited to learn from and work with them,” Kelly said. “My primary focus as a Fulbright Scholar will be research, but these research interests will inform my teaching at CNU.”

In addition to teaching math, Kelly is the associate director of CNU’s Center for Effective Teaching, which gives her the opportunity to provide consultations, design workshops, and lead discussions that support faculty. She said she is excited to learn about teaching methods and concepts in Austria and in turn, incorporate their successful techniques once she returns to Christopher Newport.

“I am looking forward to having conversations with both university and high school faculty about classroom practices. It will be interesting to compare how student motivation, incorporation of AI, and approaches to assessment and feedback vary,” she said.

During her time in Austria, Kelly will also focus on boosting partnerships and developing professional collaborations.

“At CNU, we are expected to focus on teaching, research, and service. I feel comfortable and established in my identity as an educator and leader and have been presented with opportunities of challenge and growth in both teaching and service,” she said. “The Fulbright Scholar program provides me with the opportunity to immerse myself in a research-focused environment, one that allows me to foster working relationships, be at the forefront of new research, and be inspired as I continue into the next stage of my career.”

Kelly is passionate about sharing her love of math with her students. She teaches a wide range of classes, from introductory math to high-level courses for majors. For Kelly, math holds a deeper meaning.

“Math is not about final answers or formulas; it’s an opportunity for students to develop into capable individuals who have strong analytical skills and are creative problem solvers. One of the challenges of teaching mathematics at the university level is that students arrive in the classroom with the preconceived notions of what mathematics is and is not,” she said. “Previous experience has proven to many that mathematics is simply a seemingly endless series of formulas, tests and homework problems.”

One of Kelly’s goals is to positively change students’ opinions of the subject.

“In my courses, I work to repair this reputation of mathematics by creating a community where students can explore the remarkable and surprising parts of mathematics. For each course I teach, it is critical that I do not simply tell students about the beautiful nature of mathematics, but that they are able to experience it themselves,” she said. “Our society will encounter future challenges that we can’t even imagine today. A robust mathematics education equips students to develop both an awareness of the ways in which they solve problems and the confidence to easily adjust those approaches to new situations.”