Hongjuan Zhou honored with Charles Wexler Teaching Award

Hongjuan Zhou is the recipient of the 2025 Charles Wexler Teaching Award, presented annually to an outstanding teacher of undergraduate mathematics at Arizona State University.

She was selected by the awards committee based on nominations made by undergraduate students with majors in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences.

“Receiving this teaching award is deeply meaningful to me. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to teach actuarial courses at ASU and collaborate with my colleagues in developing the actuarial program. Teaching and mentoring our talented students is a source of great fulfillment, and it is incredibly rewarding to witness their growth and success,” said Zhou.

Zhou joined ASU as professor of practice in 2018. She is an associate of the Society of Actuaries. Her academic career path has been somewhat unconventional. After completing her master’s degree in statistics from Renmin University of China and passing four actuarial exams, she worked in industry for a few years. She was eager to understand what a career in actuarial science would be like in practice. During that time, she passed additional actuarial exams, but soon realized her passion for pursuing more mathematics remained strong. This led her to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Kansas, and then transitioning into a career as a university professor.

Zhou was born in a small town in the southern part of China, where there are many lakes. As a child she always had a natural curiosity and passion for exploring mathematical concepts, which only deepened as she advanced through her education. She decided to teach at the university level because she wanted to share that passion and knowledge with future generations of students.

“I enjoy teaching upper-division courses because it is a true pleasure to engage with students at a deeper level. By this stage, they already have a solid foundation in mathematics and statistics, and I have the opportunity to help them think critically about actuarial concepts and methods. I find it incredibly rewarding to guide students through challenging materials and show them how to solve real-world actuarial problems. The discussions and problem-solving processes are often dynamic and interactive. It's exciting to see students' enthusiasm when they realize they've mastered a useful technique that will benefit their future careers,” said Zhou.

Zhou also serves as faculty adviser to teams competing in the annual Society of Actuaries (SOA) Student Research Case Study Challenge, including teams who have earned first place in 2020 and 2023.

“I was thrilled to share the exciting moments when they became finalists and won,” said Zhou. “I also enjoyed the opportunities to collaborate with industry friends to address actuarial practice problems at the actuarial research lab (The ACT Lab).”

Zhou teaches courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, but her enthusiasm for the undergraduate courses stands out, as evidenced by the positive comments from students about her undergraduate courses.

• Dr. Zhou is among the kindest and most knowledgeable professors I have ever had the pleasure of taking a class with. She makes what should be a challenging class easy to understand with the proper effort and makes class consistently enjoyable.

• Hongjuan Zhou is the most compassionate and intelligent professor I have ever had and she has been instrumental in my collegiate development. She is so smart and understands questions and nuances so well that help us students understand complex concepts. I have passed four actuarial exams in university which is a rare and impressive feat. All of the exams are based off of classes I have had with Dr. Zhou, no other teacher prepares me like Dr. Zhou.

• I’ve taken many advanced courses with Dr. Zhou. She is extremely intelligent about all of these advanced mathematical concepts but is still able to explain them in way that is easy to understand. She’s also one of the most genuinely nice, and caring people I’ve ever met. She’ll do everything in her power to rearrange her schedule to help you. She’s even taken time to help me with classes that I’m not even taking with her, and she’s helped me prepare for actuarial exams that were outside of the scope of her classes. She’s the main reason I feel prepared to succeed in my career field.
• While she is one of the best professors I have had during my time at ASU, her genuine compassion for the well-being of her students sets her apart. Last semester I was struggling with a variety of health-related issues that were impeding my ability to perform academically as I may have previously. Dr. Zhou was not only accepting and supportive but went out of her way to make sure I was putting my health first and healing so that I could graduate this semester. I truly don't think that my thesis would be what it is today without her support last semester, and I can't imagine my time at ASU without her as a professor.  

The Charles Wexler Teaching Award was established in 1977, in memory of Professor Charles Wexler, with a gift from his wife, Helen, to honor his accomplishments in the field of mathematics and his contributions to the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Wexler was the founding chairman of the Department of Mathematics at ASU. At the time of his retirement, he had accumulated 47 years of service, the longest period of faculty service in the university’s history. In 1977, the A-Wing of the Physical Sciences Center was named after Wexler in appreciation of his outstanding service to the university from 1930 until 1977.

“This award not only serves as a great honor for me but also as a reminder of the values that Dr. Wexler established – the importance of dedication to teaching, a passion for fostering student development, and a commitment to advancing academic excellence,” said Zhou.