Dr. Freddie Frazier
Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Freddie Frazier is nationally recognized for his significant role in the Prairie View A & M STEM program. The mission of STEM, and Dr. Frazier, is to take young adults of Black and Hispanic ethnicity finishing high school and prepare them to become scientists,researchers and academic leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Working with Dr. Kelvin Kirby, STEM Program Director, Interim Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at PV, tremendous strides have been made with the program. “Washington, DC is using our program as a model. We’ve got a great reputation nationally. We are in high demand,” says Dr. Frazier.
A Sid Richardson Fellow, Dr. Frazier has won numerous awards such as Outstanding Service, Advisor of the Year, Excellence, Male Faculty of the Year, and many more. He is a highly sought after presenter and lecturer in the mathematics community and is touted for his widely used DVD lecture series which includes tutorials on subjects ranging from the basic fundamentals of mathematics to differential equations. You can find information on that series at www.drfreddiefrazier.com .
Dr. Frazier earned his Ed.D in Mathematics Education from the University of Houston, an MS and BS in Mathematics from Prairie View A&M University. He is now traveling all over the country presenting mathematics research lectures. His expertise in engineering mathematics is shared in seminars in cooperation with entities in the engineering community such as the Nat’l Society of Black Engineers.
We asked Dr. Frazier why he chose to pursue his Ed.D at the University of Houston. “Dr. John Criswell drew me there. He gave a math seminar in Beaumont where he retrained teachers. I thought he was so cool in his presentation and how he gave his lecture. At that time I decided I wanted to work under him in mathematics education.” Dr. Criswell later became the chair of Dr. Frazier’s dissertation committee. Dr. Criswell’s friendliness, personality and class impressed Freddie Frazier. “He (Dr. Criswell) had gone to Washington, DC, and had a grant for developing more teachers in math education. I had finished 45 hrs and had to take pre-lims. Dr. Criswell made a special effort for me to take these in the summer so that I
could qualify. He made that happen. That was such a positive effect. I remember that,” Dr. Frazier recalls fondly. “My experience at UH was really pleasant. We need to keep the standards of working with students as strong as it was when Iwas there. Keep good professors at the university to continue to work with our young people. I was treated in a first class manner. We need to continue that process.”
The fondest UH memory for Dr. Frazier was working with former Dean Dr. Mickey Hollis. “He was on my dissertation committee. He was such a nice person.” Dr. Shaw, a statistical analysis professor was also someone Dr. Frazier loved working with as well as Dr. Garrett Etgen.
People might be surprised to know that this lover of mathematics also loves hunting deer and squirrel. A real outdoorsman, Dr. Frazier loves fresh water fishing too. His family has a cattle ranch in Woodville, Texas; he takes the STEM kids out there to fish and enjoy some good Texas barbecue.
