Computer science, math professor has seen two decades of growth
In his two decades as a University of Houston-Victoria faculty member, Li Chao has seen much growth, not only with UHV, but within himself.
Chao, a professor of computer science and mathematics, and chair of UHV’s Science, Technology and Mathematics Division, attended the University of Wyoming after arriving in the U.S. from China. The U.S education system was considered the best in the science and technology field, he said.
Chao worked at the Victoria campus for the first nine years he was at UHV. He and another professor taught all the math and computer science upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses. Though the workload was heavy, the class sizes were small.
“We didn’t have a lot of students, so at that time we decided to go to Sugar Land,” Chao said. “There was no UH Sugar Land campus back then. Wharton County Junior College was the only college nearby.”
His initial class in Sugar Land was so small that Chao had to drive five students from Victoria to get the class approved. Classes grew over time and soon UH Sugar Land was built.
Chao used to drive to Sugar Land three times a week, but he now does the reverse, driving to Victoria a couple of times a week. In addition to his duties as a professor, his responsibilities include research and proving services to the Science, Technology and Mathematics Division of the School of Arts & Sciences, such as recruiting UHV faculty members and students.
His research on cloud computing also keeps him busy. While the idea and use of the cloud isn’t entirely new to the general public, Chao’s students must create the software themselves.
“I’ve written some books and papers, and I try to implement them so that our students can use cloud computing technologies,” Chao said. “We don’t have lab space, but if you know cloud computing, the lab can be implemented in the cloud.”
Faculty Feature is an online feature highlighting faculty members from each of the University of Houston-Victoria’s three schools. To nominate a faculty member, contact Jeremy Shapiro, UHV communications manager, or call 361-570-4296.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
