Meet the Team
Houssein El Turkey
Tiffany Martinez
Director of Center for Teaching Excellence
Administrative SpecialistProvost's Office
Dr. Houssein El Turkey is currently the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and an associate professor of Mathematics at the University of New Haven. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma in 2014, after which he joined the University of New Haven, CT.
He works on qualitative and quantitative research in undergraduate mathematics education (RUME). One of his main interests in this area is studying ways of fostering mathematical creativity in the undergraduate classroom. In the classroom, he is an advocate for active learning methodologies that provide students with opportunities to ‘do mathematics’. He teaches a wide variety of mathematics courses such as the Calculus sequence, Discrete Mathematics, Intro to Proofs, and Number Theory.
In terms of serving the CTE, he has shared his research expertise as RUME researcher to work with interested faculty in starting research in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Building on his experience with active-learning methodologies, he is interested in working with faculty on identifying changes we can make in our teaching methods to allow for an active classroom. Tangentially, he is interested in exploring with faculty equitable, inclusive, and reflective teaching practices. To achieve these goals, he has organized interactive workshops, guest lectures, or panel discussions on these different topics.
Outside of academics, he enjoys cooking Lebanese food and being on the tennis court. To learn more about him, please visit his page. You can reach out to him directly at helturkey@newhaven.edu.
Tiffany’s current role encompasses providing administrative support and day-to-day operations for university-wide programs and initiatives including Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), University Makerspace, Study Abroad, and Service Learning, amongst other Provost’s Office programs and initiatives . She assists with event planning of Commencement, Faculty Excellence Awards, Bucknall Awards, Johnson Family Writing Awards, outcomes assessment for academic programs and other tasks.
Tiffany started at the University of New Haven in 2008, in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering as the Administrative Secretary. Prior to working at the University of New Haven, she was employed at SBC/AT&T Corporate Office, as the Conference Services Administrative Support Specialist for 10 plus years. She is versatile professional adept at providing administrative/customer support, streamlining office operations, and handling multiple projects simultaneously. She is recognized for being extremely flexible and adaptable to new assignments and situations.