A to B: Xiaodong Yue, Ed.M.’88, Ed.D.’93

Thirty years ago, when I was attending the Ed School, I participated for three concessive years a fundraiser the school held in the basement of Gutman, calling alumni all across the States. At the time, we called it the phonathon. The function was competitive: Whoever could successfully raise more than $1000 would be treated to a lunch with Dean Murphy. Each year, I tried very hard to make the goal, yet each year it remained a remote dream. In my last year of trying, I raised more than $850, but Gutman Library had to be closed! Frustrated as I was of the time, I vowed to myself that one day when I was called for fundraising, I would pledge $1000 instantly.

And this is exactly what I did for the past three years!

Since 2016, I have been donating $1000 each year to support Dean Ryan’s running of the Boston Marathon. I realized that this was a great way to repay my dues to HGSE by highlighting the names of my beloved professors. Far and away, as I have been in Hong Kong, I miss dearly my days walking through Appian Way. I started in 2016 with naming Professor Robert LeVine for being my supervisor and mentor during my days at HGSE. His studies on child-rearing practices are classics in the field, and his research on the influence of maternal schooling on reproduction and child health were adopted by UNESCO for improving girls’ education in developing countries. His findings that women’s literacy positively affects their health and that of their children are widely cited. I was lucky to be his advisee for my six years on Appian Way.

In 2017, I nominated Professor Howard Gardner to show my deep admiration and appreciation of his theory of multiple intelligence (MI). Professor Gardner joined the famous Project Zero while I was at the school from 1987 to 1993. I was lucky to take a course with him and worked under him briefly. His MI theory touches every school teacher around the world, particularly in Asia where parents used to care too much student’’ math performance to the sacrifice of performance in other arenas, such as arts, communication, and sports. Professor Gardner is actually a lot more famous and recognized in East Asia (including China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) than in the United States. I am proud to claim myself to be his student and to promote his MI theory in China and Hong Kong.   

In 2018, I nominated Professor Judith Singer because she showed me how to teach with humor. I took a statistics course with her. In the beginning, I was very afraid of failing the course as I had not been a math person since childhood. But Professor Singer’s teaching quickly eased my anxiety. She used Harvard enrollments, Boston’s crime rates, and B.F. Skinner’s citations to demonstrate her points. Thirty years after taking the course, I can still vividly remember these stories. I have been emulating her style of teaching ever since. Believe it or not, I have kept all her assignments, which include her comments and grades.

Approaching my own retirement age, I feel an urgency to carry out my donation plan and my “calling” list includes other names, including Professors Catherine Snow, Bob Selman, Kurt Fischer, and Terry Tivman. And my heart goes on for HGSE.

— Xiaodong Yue, Ed.M.’88, Ed.D.’93, is a professor at the City University of Hong Kong

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