Professor Dong Anjie is teaching at the school of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University. Being around Professor Dong makes you feel very comfortable because she is gentle, humble, friendly, and a good listener. She is a teacher who knows how to find the good in others.

Respect

Professor Dong was about to attend the Outstanding Teacher Recognition Ceremony as an outstanding teacher in the afternoon. When she talked about her experience as a teacher, the first thing she said was that she was grateful to Tianjin University. “Tianjin University is a Project 985 university. The School of Chemical Engineering and Technology has gained first-place rankings during all the past five consecutive national disciplinary evaluations. Our School has recruited highly qualified and talented students. I am grateful that the students are hard-working and chose me as their supervisor. I am grateful for the support of my colleagues in the subject area.”

Since becoming a teacher in 1998, Professor Dong has trained more than one hundred and twenty masters and doctoral students. More than forty of these students have become chief engineers, professors, youth backbones, Tianjin Outstanding Youths, senior managers of enterprises, top students in the school, Chinese college students' star of self-improvement and Tianjin University's Top Ten Outstanding Youths.

When being asked about the key to talent development, Professor Dong told us after thinking for a while, "I am very lucky that these are all excellent students. I offer some opportunities and platforms for them to develop well. What I can do is to create the atmosphere of the subject group. I always believe that everyone can be fully respected here, and has their own space for development. Therefore, they definitely take the initiative to work hard and no longer need me to bother to push them. Also, I think it is those students who teach me to be a good teacher. Some students built the lab with me from a beaker and a glass rod. Some students followed me from their undergraduate to her PhD study. They led junior students of my team to solve problems together. A senior student in my team was called "eldest brother" by others. Later, he worked hard in an enterprise, became leader and led his team to promote the innovative achievements to the world. He never complained that I didn't provide him with good experimental conditions during the early days, instead, he is grateful to me. He said that he took away the ability I gave him." Professor Dong's secret to teaching is to put the development of students' abilities as the first thing.

In Professor Dong's lab, every student is treated with full respect. She observes the characteristics of each student carefully and helps them choose suitable research topics to help them grow. She said: "Each student is different. Some are pioneering, some are very resilient, and some have outstanding communication skills. My hope is that they could find projects and directions in the lab that best suit them and that they can build on the strengths and weaknesses of their individual studies. I always make it clear to the students that competence is honed in the process of doing things, such as working on a project, attending classes, organizing activities or even participating in the activities. Every moment and thing are a process of exercising. Therefore, if they put their minds to it, what they will take away with them is their competence. Students are smart and motivated and would like to do things for their own development. They don’t need me to push them." Professor Dong gives her students the utmost respect. She believes that it is most important to cultivate students through stimulating their internal motivation. She stimulates and develops students' ability to think scientifically, creatively and logically through specific projects.

Dedication

Professor Dong's strictness is seen by the students. Her students said that Professor Dong is calm and peaceful, but she is particularly strict with the lectures, experiments and correcting papers. She doesn’t take a break even when she had xerophthalmia, but still correcting papers word by word.

Professor Dong has been teaching Polymer Physics for more than twenty years. She carefully prepares for her every lesson all the time. In the era of board book teaching, she would rewrite the lesson plan by hand every year. Later, with multimedia teaching technology, she would update the PowerPoint for every class. She said, "I am an ordinary teacher, but I do love my teaching, and I respect for my teaching in my heart. When the students come, I must teach them well. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to be attentive and to treat them as if they were my own children, and a part of my own life. I pay close attention to their state, reminding them appropriately when they slack off and get complacent."

Professor Dong is able to keep track of each student's progress. Students are free to schedule their time in the lab, but they must keep up with their studies. "Professor Dong never criticizes students. However, if you don't do a good job she'll have a heart-to-heart talk with you. And she'll come to you if you slack off." Her students say: "Professor Dong's strictness is a gentle pressure. She treats her students with as much care as their mother, but with more patience. Students who work hard are never afraid of Professor Dong, and students who are lazy are especially afraid of her." They add: "Professor Dong is so nice, so I will be sorry if I fail her due to my not being hard-working enough."

Professor Dong's student Li Shuangyang is an entrepreneurial star at TJU. He is now busy with writing his doctoral thesis. Professor Dong suggested on his early graduation since he is qualified. Professor Dong said: "Li Shuangyang told me that he wants to start his own business, and his character is suitable for it. I can't help him with entrepreneurship. What I can do is to help him do well in his studies. Therefore, I suggested that since he is qualified, he should strive for early graduation and concentrate on starting his own business, so that his scientific research results on artificial blood vessels can be clinically applied as soon as possible for the benefit of mankind." Being student-centered means being centered on helping students grow with their hearts.

Warmth

Professor Dong’s team gave her students a great sense of security with warmth.

Professor Dong focuses on the humanistic environment of the lab and encourages everyone to build the lab as a warm family. Everyone feels a sense of belonging here. Students are shown around the campus in search of "life" throughout the year. They appreciate beautiful flowers in spring, bright moon in autumn, cool breeze in summer and snowflakes in winter. Loving life and helping each other is a must for their group. The warmth of their extended family has cured depression and resolved countless life problems. What's more, the senior personally contacted famous doctors and took the junior to the hospital to help them reduce the possibility of scarring from acne removal surgery. It is a daily routine to help each other in Professor Dong's lab, for the senior to lead the junior student, and for both teaching and learning to influence and promote each other. Students want to come to the lab because they are comfortable, happy, have goals, role models, and even more companionship and support when they stay here. Professor Dong teaches students to take the "warmth" out of school and bring it into their lives and society.

Blessing

Turning to Professor Dong's student files, you will find that many of them are campus celebrities.

Zhao Fuli, Outstanding PhD Graduate, Tianjin University. Rong Hui, Star of Self-improvement of Chinese University Students, and Tianjin University Student Science Award. Ye Zhanpeng, Student of the Year at Tianjin University, and Top Ten Outstanding Youth of Tianjin University. Li Shuangyang, Gold Prizes of the 7th China International College Students’ "Internet +" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Gold Prize of the 8th China Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition; Zhang Yiqun, National Gold Medal of "Challenge Cup" ......

Professor Dong has been engaged in applied basic research in the field of biomedical materials for more than 20 years, and has undertaken 15 projects under the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program), the National Key Programs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, as well as three provincial and ministerial level projects. Professor Dong has published more than 200 SCI papers and obtained over 20 patents.

When talking about her students, Professor Dong is always full of happiness.

Professor Dong said: "I feel especially blessed to be a teacher. Teachers and students are destined to be together. These students who have come into my life like my children. I have grown up with them, and they have made me who I am. The time I have spent with them has melted into my life. This is my life's treasure, and I'm quite content and happy with them."

Every year on Teachers' Day, students come back from all over the world to celebrate Teacher's Day at TJU with Professor Dong. Since 2007 when her first PhD student graduated, their happy gathering has been held almost every year as scheduled.

Professor Dong said it is a blessing to be a teacher at TJU.

By Li Jiexuan

Editor: Sun Xiaofang