Exemplary Faculty Service Award

Joseph Gallegos

Professor, Mathematics
Salt Lake Community College

Never give up – with learning or, in particular, when it comes to math. That’s the advice mathematics professor Joseph Gallegos is apt to give students in any of his 10 different courses he teaches at Salt Lake Community College, where he has taught for 21 years. Gallegos earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Utah. He considered being a scientist or an engineer and was even a computer programmer for a bit but decided being in front of a class was the right choice.

For Gallegos, education isn’t only about a means to getting a job. Education is learning that produces knowledge and power. He has been a leader off campus on a national level and at the departmental and college levels at SLCC, helping make significant advances in departmental policies and procedures that have created more departmental autonomy and positioned SLCC at the forefront of innovation. He’s helped transform the mathematics department from being a service-only department to a program of study with students pursuing an AS in mathematics.

Gallegos plans to continue teaching at SLCC to make a difference in the lives of students by helping them appreciate the power and utility of mathematics. Outside of the classroom, he can often be found at concerts, making efforts to reduce his carbon footprint by walking and hiking and, possibly at the same time, playing Pokémon Go on his phone.