The UC Davis Department of Economics was the perfect choice for international doctoral candidate Henry Hao. While an undergraduate at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, Hao spent a summer in an English as a Second Language program at California State University, Northridge, which gave him the opportunity to explore the Golden State outside of class. He found UC Davis to be an ideal location in Northern California with “nice weather, a secure neighborhood and a friendly environment.”

The temperate lifestyle was just a bonus; the reputation of the university and its economics program were the primary selling points. The UC Davis economics department was ranked 14th among U.S. public universities in 2013.

Currently teaching Economy of East Asia to undergraduates, Hao specializes in research on Chinese processing exports during the recent financial crisis. His teaching philosophy lies in his interest in applying abstract theoretical ideas to real world scenarios.

The Department of Economics provides international students financial support to work as TAs; their evaluations act as a major criterion to determine if a graduate student can subsequently obtain departmental financial aid. “As a TA, it was crucial to do my best to engage the class, provide informative discussion sections and clear up any student confusion,” he explains. However, Hao experienced some difficulty in communicating effectively with the instructor and students, and was not granted a continued TA-ship his second year.

The initial setback only strengthened Hao’s resolve. “I was determined to conquer the obstacles I faced and pursue teaching as my career.” He found professional development workshops to be tremendous resources. GradPathways offered workshops such as “Writing a CV,” “Graduate Writer’s Retreat” and “Job Search Jump Start.” Professors for the Future offered “Integrating Technology in Curriculum Development and Task Management,” “Scheduling” and “Staying Motivated.”

Clearly Hao's persistence and commitment to improving his teaching skills paid off. His students wrote letters of support and he won the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award for 2013-2014 — an impressive accomplishment considering he was one of eight winners out of about 2,500 graduate instructors who teach at UC Davis each year.