Faculty Profile: Sophia Georgiakaki

Posted: October 17, 2024
Woman with long black hair smiling in front of a large window with greenery visible outside. She is wearing a colorful, patterned outfit that includes floral and geometric designs, with a mix of red, purple, and blue colors.

Sophia Georgiakaki means it when she says she is living her dream. Growing up in Greece, she participated in math competitions and was even a member of the Greek National Team in International Mathematics Olympiad. “Teaching math was my dream job when I was a kid,” she says, having realized that dream. “I love math!”

That love of math, and her passion for helping others, guided Georgiakaki’s journey. Starting as a tutor of math and science and working as lab assistant at the Athens University of Economics and Business during her undergraduate years, she has been a natural teacher. She came to the United States and was a teaching assistant while earning her master’s degree at Cornell University. Like so many, she came to the area because of Cornell University and fell in love with it. Like two lines on a graph, her love for the area and passion for teaching converged at TC3. 

“I wanted to teach, and I wanted my teaching to be meaningful and impactful,” she said. TC3 was a perfect landing spot, given its focus on providing accessible and affordable education, particularly for under-resourced communities. “I love the mission of the community college, and I think education is one of the most important services we can provide to our community. Our students come to us with personal goals and dreams for improvement, and we provide the path to achieving those. Being an educator is a very rewarding career.”

Sophia Georgiakaki, Professor of Mathematics
Athens University of Economics and Business, B.S.; Cornell University, M.S.

In her own words
What do you like best about working at TC3?
The community, the students, the opportunities TC3 offers, and the many ways we help our students achieve their goals: employment, transfer, upskilling, technical training, personal enrichment, credentialing.

How would you describe your best students - what characteristics do they share?
They work hard, they ask questions, they interact with instructors and advisors, they persevere, they learn from mistakes, they are honest.

What have you learned from your students?
I learn from my students every day. I learn different ways of thinking, different perspectives, different experiences, and also new ways to solve math problems!