He’s The Kendall Campus President—And A Math Professor

After he was appointed Kendall Campus president in June of 2024, Bryan Stewart had an epiphany. 

“I thought, you know what? I’m now part of the academic campus, I need to teach a math course,” Stewart said. 

For more than 23 years, Stewart was fully immersed in the world of math. He taught the subject at Tarrant County College in Texas, even serving as dean of the school’s mathematics and science departments for 13 years. 

During his six-year tenure as president of Medical Campus, Stewart hosted a one-hour math review for roughly 400 nursing students every semester. 

Now, as president of Kendall Campus, he’s tapping back into his roots.

Last spring, Kendall Campus Honors College Director Aurora Alonso approached Stewart with the opportunity to teach a math course. They collaborated during the summer and designed a schedule, picking a math course that most students need to complete. 

Ultimately, they decided on MAC1105, college algebra. Stewart started teaching the class this fall semester to 30 Honors College students.

On Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 a.m., students attend his class in person. On Fridays, they join the class online to ask any questions and to catch up on homework. 

Each session starts with students asking questions about the previous lesson before he works on as many problems and prompts as he can in 50 minutes.

“The homework to me is really important, because to me it’s like shooting free throws…but to shoot good free throws, you have to practice a lot,” said Stewart, who grew up playing basketball. “It’s the same with math.”

Students say the president-turned-professor finds unique ways to keep students engaged and focused.

“Occasionally he’ll crack a joke or two. The other day he took off his shoes and he was in his socks because his shoes were too squeaky,” said Grace Fraga, a biology major. “It’s a great class to have at 7 a.m.”

At first, many of Stewart’s students had no idea who he was. He introduced himself only by his full name at the beginning of the semester. 

“He told us that the class is at 7 a.m. because he had another [job] at MDC, but he never said he was the president,” said Diego Guiu, a psychology major. 

After several events, such as the Honors College orientation and the induction ceremony, students began to piece together the fact that they were being taught by the highest-ranking authority on campus.

“I didn’t purposely deceive them, but I wanted them to see me first as a math teacher and I think they do,” Stewart said.

Having the campus president as your professor could be intimidating, but when it comes to Stewart’s class, students feel at ease.

“You could tell that he really wants to make us feel comfortable and not be like, ‘Oh my gosh! It’s the president of the campus, we have to be uptight!” Fraga said. “He wants us to see him as any other professor who’s wanting to help and wanting to see us succeed.”

Next semester, Stewart plans to teach a pre-calculus course and expand his classes to all students. 

“I’m their professor, and that just hits my heart really, really well,” Stewart said. “It makes me smile inside when I hear them say that because I know they don’t just say that to anyone—they say that to people they respect.” 

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