Author Details

Filippo Posta comes from a little village near Siena, Tuscany in Italy. He always dreamed of playing professional soccer and going to America. The soccer thing did not pan out despite making as much as a half-million per week…in Italian liras (about $20 USD). Dr. Posta’s passion for teaching and doing research in math landed him a scholarship to study at NJIT. After graduating, he switched coasts and ended up at GCU (via UCLA). What a blessing! He and his wife, Emily, are truly happy living in Scottsdale, AZ, and they have found a very supportive environment for their kids, Nicolas and Oliver. He looks forward to their future in the Valley since Nico wants to be Thunder when he grows up.

Faculty Spotlight Questions:
I come from a little village near Siena, Tuscany in Italy. My passion for teaching and doing research in math landed me a scholarship to study at NJIT in Newark, NJ. I loved the school, but I did not leave Tuscany to live in Jersey. Manhattan, here I come! I was blessed to find an apartment in the East Village and made a lot of friends through soccer. I even met my wife, Emily, when our soccer club organized a philanthropic event at the Bowery Mission.

After graduating, I got a job at UCLA and got married, first in Las Vegas (before the INS and “Elvis Presley”) and then in Tuscany (before God and family). While I was at UCLA, we had our first child and soon realized that we needed a family-friendly place to raise kids. We picked Scottsdale, AZ! We packed our bags and drove our car to Arizona.

We are truly happy living in Scottsdale; we found a very supportive environment for Nicolas, and we had our second child in April 2013. Both kids and our family are growing strong and happy, and we could not ask for more.

After two years working in the industry (and teaching as adjunct at Glendale Community College), I was lucky enough to get a position at GCU teaching math. This is truly my passion, and it is my goal to provide a successful learning environment for all my students.

I have studied and worked at many different institutions and only at GCU’s CHSS have I met a faculty body that is truly dedicated to their pedagogical craft. It is an extremely stimulating environment where I am put in the best position to develop my pedagogical ideas, discuss them with my peers and, most of all, apply them knowing that I have the full support of my colleagues. I am a restless soul that always hopes to improve and having this support makes my 45-minute commute much faster.

Math is a fickle subject; long study hours can lead to poor results and lectures can be tough to follow. I like to advise my students to not cheat themselves by skipping class or procrastinating with the coursework. Lectures are structured to provide the mathematical and logistical tools to succeed in the course.  At the end of each lecture, a student knows if the material was understood or not. In either case, it is pivotal to seek extra help or keep practicing. It does not have to be hours of tutoring or problem-solving, but a little bit every day will do. Saving mathematical coursework for the weekend is a recipe for disaster.