INTERVIEW

Thanks to Mr Luis Balbuena Castilian, I'm able to attach you here this amazing interview about such a great professor.

1) In order to teach a subject is necessary to know as much as possible. You dedicated most of your time teaching maths, what is your educational background? Do you consider it enough?

First I studied the teaching career (three years) and even as such exercised in unit schools although only a few months. Also I completed the Bachelor of Mathematics (five years) at the University of Santiago de Compostela. At thit time you could only do this degree in four Spanish Universities. Just when the last courses were leftover some Universities began offering me many other opportunities, including "La Laguna", so finally I accepted as a "founding member"

Of course I think that is more than enough my scientific training to teach mathematics in secondary education which is what always attracted me. So I also set about preparing the opposition for a place in a school and I showed up in 1974 as I passed the good fortune of the first Professor. Since then I have been at that level continuously.

2) By the dates indicated, did you life at Franco's times. What would you highlight at your time as PNN in college?

Indeed, the PNN was the figure most abundant professor at the University of that time (late "Franquismo") and early the transition). It means "No tenured Professor" because we had not fixed but each course, if we were good, we were renewed the workplace. This group claimed a lot, among other things, the stability of that broad set of teachers they had, in general, a great responsibility to provide really strong subjects and required a lot of time to prepare lessons.

I was representative of the PNN, Faculty of Science and doing a couple of courses and I was able to follow the subject from the first line. I remember a semi-clandestine meeting was in Granada where we were greeted by Mayor Zaragoza was the Rector. Many of the leaders who assumed important responsibilities in the early stages of Democracy, came from this group. PNN The term was later extended to other levels and became so popular that the word PNN appears in the 2001 edition of the dictionary of the Real Academia de la Lengua.

3) You have attempt several times to "Giner de los Ríos" Award organized by the Ministry of Education of Spain and financed by the BBVA and I understand that at all times has earned one of the prizes. I guess that it will be one of those jobs that you have developed. Could you comment us some of those jobs?

Yes, actually until now we could do some works like that. And notice that i'm using the plural tense because I have developed them collaborating with colleagues and with pupils as well. In particular I would like to note that in almost all collaborated professor Dolores Coba, Department partner in the "Viera y Clavijo" she helped too much in every single project.

In this institute we make a Maths Week for many years ago. Initially it meant a little extra effort, but with the reiteration i turned out into a stream ideas about mathematics world. A year we submit a report about our activity in order to be awarded at "Giner de los Ríos" because we felt it was an worthy idea. We knew that this ideas maybe is not that worthy for trying to get the awards because of there's a lot of competition, and a lot of talent, but at least we tried out. And finally they award out project. Really, I swear makes you feel very good in a deeply way.