What is your name and current title with the University of Montevallo?
Scott Varagona, professor of mathematics.
Where are you from and what city do you currently reside in?
I was raised in Birmingham and — aside from when I was a student at Auburn — I have lived in the Birmingham metro area my entire life.
If you hold any degrees, what are they in and from what schools?
I got a B.S. in Mathematics (2005), a B.A. in Philosophy (2005) an M.S. in Mathematics (2008) and a Ph.D. in Mathematics (2012), all from Auburn University.
How long have you worked here?
About 12 years.
Did you hold any previous positions here? If so, what are they?
I started out as an assistant professor of mathematics at UM in 2012. When I got tenure, I was promoted to associate professor of mathematics, and later I got promoted to full professor, the title I hold now.
What brought you to Montevallo?
In graduate school, I found out that I loved teaching mathematics at the college level. So, I wanted to find a job as a professor at a university with a strong emphasis on teaching. A small liberal arts school like UM was perfect for this. Not to mention, it was a dream come true to return to the Birmingham area, which has always felt like home.
What’s the best thing about working for Montevallo?
There are so many good things about this place, it is hard to pick just one! I’ll just say that the general feeling I have always gotten at UM is that people feel free to be themselves. That is a wonderful environment to work in.
Do you have any interesting stories about one of your favorite experiences here?
My times participating in the Life Raft Debate were unforgettable. I have particularly fond memories of winning as the “devil’s advocate” at the 2015 edition of the debate. I ended up participating in the debate in some form or other for seven years in a row! After that long marathon, I basically retired from the debate, but I’ll always remember it as a special part of my UM journey.
Of course, I have had countless memorable interactions with students in my classes through the years. One recent memory that stands out was a Halloween where I walked into a classroom and all the students there were dressed up as me!
What’s your proudest accomplishment since being at UM?
My competitive chess career reached new heights while I have worked here. I have won quite a few Alabama State Chess Championship titles and achieved a chess master rank called Original Life Master. I guess I am officially UM’s “chess guy.”
Why do you belong at Montevallo?
I feel that my students and colleagues appreciate me for my teaching style and for who I am in general. Moreover, being a professor at a small school with small class sizes, I get to interact closely with students and I have a lot of freedom to give my courses my own personal spin. For example, my department even let me create and teach an interdisciplinary course called “Mathematics of Chess,” which studies the relationships between chess and a branch of mathematics called graph theory. It’s nice that professors like me get to teach courses based on our own interests and talents, while helping students reach their educational goals as well.
Anything else you want to say?
As the joke goes, “Life is like a game of chess: I don’t know how to play chess.” That pretty much sums up the entire human condition, doesn’t it?
