Faculty Spotlight: Lisa Werwinski

photo of Lisa Werwinski

  • assistant lecturer of statistics
  • graduated in 2013 from Miami with BS in Integrated Mathematics Education; MS in Statistics
  • former Miami student athlete in diving; now serves as a diving coach and judge in her spare time

What kind of education and experience did you have before joining the faculty at Miami?

"I completed my two undergraduate degrees and graduate degree here at Miami. While a student at Miami, I was also a head lifeguard at the Rec Center and taught various American Red Cross Lifeguarding and CPR classes throughout the years. After finishing my master's degree, I spent two years teaching mathematics and statistics at the high school level. I have also been coaching diving in some capacity since the summer of 2011. I believe that my experiences teaching and coaching before joining the faculty here at Miami helped prepare me for a career as a statistics educator."

What attracted you to join Miami's Department of Statistics?

"As one of the first combined undergraduate/graduate students, I truly enjoyed my time within the Department of Statistics here at Miami. During my two years of teaching high school, I realized that I missed the opportunity to work with college students and be in the fast-paced university environment. As a result, when the opportunity to come back to Miami surfaced, I rejoined the department without hesitation!

"Throughout my time as an instructor in some capacity (Summer 2014 - Spring 2018), I truly enjoyed getting to know my colleagues. I look forward to coming to work every day because I love spending time with my colleagues and working with our students on a daily basis. Our department is extremely collegial in the sense that everyone is willing to work together and help each other whenever possible to create the best possible experiences for our students. Furthermore, working within a statistics department (as opposed to a mathematics and statistics department) is definitely a perk of being here at Miami. I enjoy getting to teach both face-to-face (during the fall and spring semesters) and online (during the summers).

"Most importantly, I enjoy working to equip our students with the statistical background needed to help prepare them for any future career. I am truly proud to be able to work at my alma mater and could not imagine myself teaching anywhere else."

What is different about being an instructor at Miami after spending time as a student?

"As a faculty member, my focus is now on doing whatever I can to help prepare our students for successful careers beyond Miami. As a student, my focus was on figuring out what I needed to do to set myself up for a career as an educator. As a faculty member, I enjoy being able to focus on my students and how I can encourage them and help them be the best that they can be. I consider it an honor to be a part of my students' journeys and always love receiving emails from students years later telling me that they are grateful for what they learned in my class."

How do you describe what you do to people who don't know anything about statistics?

"I have the privilege of teaching our students the statistical and quantitative skills that they will need to function within the workplace. My ultimate goal is to prepare my students to be educated consumers of statistics. It is definitely rewarding when my students enjoy learning statistics and decide to pursue future statistics coursework after completing my class. Most importantly, I see my position as an opportunity to be an encouraging mentor to my students in every way possible. In my current position, my responsibilities include teaching, advising, and service to both the department and our students."

What do you like to do outside of work?

"Outside of work, my main hobby is to stay involved with the sport of diving and give back to our great sport as both a coach and judge. After finishing my career as a student-athlete here at Miami, staying involved within the sport seemed natural.

"Through my involvement as a FINA International Judge and National Level Judge for USA Diving, I have had the opportunity to travel across the country and world. A few highlights for me have included:

  • attending the 2018 FINA World Diving Conference in Chongqing, China
  • judging the 2018 FINA World Junior Diving Championships in Kiev, Ukraine
  • judging the 2017 Junior Pan American Diving Championships in Victoria, Canada
  • judging the 2017 Men's and Women's & 2018 Men's NCAA Division 1 Diving Championships

"As a coach, I have the pleasure of helping my high school athletes become Ohio HS State Finalists, NISCA High School Diving All-Americans, and earn NCAA Division 1 Athletic Scholarships. I am proud to coach at West Clermont High School in Cincinnati."

[January 2019]