Students give Gilbert Strang a standing ovation after his last lecture | Hacker News Reader

Students give Gilbert Strang a standing ovation after his last lecture

boston.com

228 pointspaulpauper51 comments

I took a linear algebra class in high school and we used two textbooks for the class. One gave a simple and soft presentation which we used most of the time. The other one was much more rigorous, referred to in hushed and fearful tones simply as "Strang". When I got to university, I realized with fear and excitement that the guy teaching the linear algebra class is the same guy who wrote the textbook we were all afraid of in high school. His lectures are excellent. Just as clear and rigorous as the book, but not at all scary. Just like Strang himself.

I suspect that this comment section is going to fill up with such anecdotes, but his OCW lecture series on Linear Algebra got me through a college course with a less than inspired lecturer. Had no idea he'd been doing it so long, extremely impressive

It's a special talent to be simultaneously capable in math & teaching it to people who are not.

Teaching 63 years worth of students + OCW views = a helluva legacy

Thank you, Dr. Strang!

I came here to say the exact same thing. My professor wasn't a bad professor per se, but I found Strang's lectures to be much more easy to understand.

I learned Linear Algebra from the 2nd Edition of Strang 30 years ago. I just started re-learning it with the 6th Edition. He has been refining the presentation over the years and keeping it current with applications (now there are machine learning chapters). It would be so easy to fall into a rut teaching this subject year after year, but he has kept it fresh through his obvious joy in teaching. I’m very grateful we have Prof. Strang’s lectures to watch! (No offense to our professor at CMU back in the day, btw, he was great.)

> through his obvious joy in teaching

He clearly is passionate about teaching. The way he respects his students and try to lift them to his level instead of bombarding them with maths. He's clearly here to teach and not select.

It's incredible the value we loose by having bad teachers. And my personal experience was that the higher you get in the educational system the worst the teachers.

For this, internet is a godsend and Strang was one of the earlier adopter of that medium.

Strang also taught courses on machine learning, differential equations and engineering math that are available on OCW.

https://ocw.mit.edu/search/?q=Prof.+Gilbert+Strang

Strang's OCW lectures on linear algebra are excellent. From a distance, he truly seems like a professor that was at least as interested in educating the next generation as he was making his own discoveries.

If you truly care about discovery, how could you not also care about the next generation? Life is short.

His lectures on linear algebra are very high quality. 61 years in any role is unimaginable by todays standards.

Since the article doesn’t mention it: He’s presently 88 years old.

The article actually DOES mention that... it's in the equation in the blackboard.

I am amazed how one can teach a subject with such enthusiasm for 60 years and never get bored of it. Hats off to Prof Strang for kindling in me the love for mathematics.

He taught this class long ago at Lincoln Laboratory, tests, problem sets and all, to a bunch of adult learners, often science and engineering PhDs, that realized the importance of the subject only after leaving school. It transformed the culture of the place because everybody was speaking the same language across many disciplines.

Another update:

The version of the 2023 course on Linear Algebra where Prof Strang delivered his final lecture will soon be uploaded to MIT OCW.

He made sure that his books are available for the students here in India. Thanks for your great commitment to teaching all the students of the world.

61 years!! Holy cannoli. That's an incredible tenure by any measure.

No encore?

"Okay, let's work out one more row."

I used to listen to Strang's lectures to go to sleep at night. It helped a ton when I got to college and took an advanced Linear Algebra course. I don't think his influence on the world can be overstated.

Unless they were absolutely terrible, professors received a standing ovation at the end of the quarter. Feel like this is tradition, no?

> Unless they were absolutely terrible, professors received a standing ovation at the end of the quarter.

I guess I'll be the first one to point out that I never witnessed anything like that.

At UChicago where I attend, most of my big lecture style classes give the prof a round of applause at the end of each quarter (except for one very bad physics lecturer I had once).

Thank you. Yes, this was at UCSD and most of my stem classes were pretty large. So many people on replying to my post seem to think I’ve made this up. Sad for them they never experienced how great it felt to complete a semester or quarter with a round of applause and a “good luck with finals!”

There's a world of difference between a round of applause and a standing ovation. It would appear you misused the term "standing ovation."

It was common at my university (US).

Which American university is it normal for students, as a group, to stand up and applaud the professor in a standing ovation at the end of each quarter unless the professor was absolutely terrible?

I've never seen that anywhere - across like 4 or 5 different universities and three countries. Even if it had happened why would it be at anything other than the end of the year or maybe semester for a single semester course?

I've seen it once (and well earned) - Imre Leader at the end of a one term course.

That's not a name I was expecting to see on HN! I haven't had the luck of taking one of his courses, but I discussed many interesting puzzles with him at a conference last year, great guy!

UCSD. Most of my professors received round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Didn’t really happen in lower division general ed. When you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

What school were you at when you experienced standing ovations for teachers? I never have and it also looks like many other commenters have not. I wonder if it is a cultural thing?

In Europe (or some countries in Europe) it's common to receive applause at the end of the semester but never in the US.

UCSD. Most of my professors received standing round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here

If you are referring to MIT, I never observed this when I was there (mid 1980s).

The only professor I've seen get a standing ovation (not including retirement lectures) was Patrick Winston during one of the last lectures of Artificial Intelligence. Or, maybe How to Speak. Memory is a bit fuzzy.

UCSD. Most of my professors received a round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Didn’t really happen in lower division general ed. When you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

As a student, I think I only saw this a few times. Maybe at the end of 6.001 with Abelson & Sussman? As a professor, no, I've never gotten any kind of applause, though some polite "thank you" is no uncommon (and very much appreciated).

One time a single student clapped a few times at the end of my one of my TA sessions, and it really made my day!

I was a TA for many classes during my Physics PhD program, and this bit of clapping was a singular occurrence, in the middle of the semester. I’ve never been a course lecturer though, that was always for faculty.

The great TA’s also got a round of applause during the last discussion section. I had a few TA’s that really saved my ass. Mine and most others in the class because the professor wasn’t so great. They’re the ones that received them.

I’m sure you were great but realize most of your student probably weren’t trying to major in physics? Maybe mostly engineering students and such who weren’t fond of the material or having to take it. I was experiencing this mostly in my upper division courses.

At Brown it was common to applaud at the end of the last lecture of the semester, which I always thought was nice, but usually not a standing ovation. Haven't seen it elsewhere.

UCSD. Most of my professors received round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here as well. Mostly in my stem classes. Doesn’t really happen in lower division general ed. when you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops. Sometimes the applaud happened as students began to leave, and so the standing ovation before departure haha

Either you are grossly exaggerating this phenomenon, or this is some cultural outcome that no one downstream seems to understand where it's from, regardless of university.

The OP at first glance seems to be pushing an incorrect assertion ("standing ovation common at end of quarter unless professor was terrible"). I am slightly amused that over half the current set of comments to this entire article is bewilderment and confusion caused by taking the OP seriously.

To add to my previous response: I witnessed this mostly in my stem courses and definitely in my upper division math courses. General coursework where students take those because they have to, maybe aren’t so keen to, but when a class has been grinding together for ten weeks with really tough material, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

One more n=1 anecdote: at my school (UNC Wilmington) I never saw this happen. I was there in the mid 1990's FWIW.

UCSD. Most of my professors received standing round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Doesn’t really really happen in lower division general ed. when you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops

Clickbait title

> Gilbert Strang, a world-renowned mathematics professor, has been at MIT — as a student and teacher — for 66 years.

What's the click bait part? The part you quoted? The first sentence of the article is:

> After 63 years teaching and over 10 million views on his online lectures...

Is the difference of his three years as a student too much to overlook?

I suppose GP is using clickbait in the looser sense that the title omits info (the professor's name) and thus invites a click; rather than the more common use of clickbait to label titles that are exaggerated, misleading, or "one-weird-trickey".

Granted, titles can't contain a full articles worth of facts, so omitted info is always expected; but omitting primary subject's name does lean somewhat reader-hostile (IMO).

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