Dr. Meng-Fen Grace Lin was a beloved and dedicated professor in the College of Education, joining the faculty in 2008 and specializing in learning, design and technology (LTEC). Her legacy is marked by her exceptional ability to foster community and connection in virtual spaces, particularly during the COVID pandemic. By encouraging students to share their personal experiences of isolation at the start of each class, she created a supportive online environment that helped students build meaningful relationships.
One of Dr. Lin’s key contributions was her commitment to innovative thinking in education. She believed that "creativity and design are all about problem solving and making things better for people." This philosophy guided her approach, as she emphasized that such skills require practice and that "not everyone gets the training or even the permission to look at things in a new way and imagine how they could be improved." Her innovative design thinking aimed to equip students for success in both their professional and personal lives.
Her adaptability was frequently praised by her students. One graduate student in a 2021 research class remarked, “Dr. Grace is willing to try out new technologies and switch what she is doing mid-stride if she finds something better. This sort of flexibility is much harder than it looks. Kudos.” This ability to adjust her teaching methods demonstrated her commitment to meeting diverse student needs.
Colleagues and friends would all attest that Grace cared about students a lot and she always came up with new and interesting ideas to make the classes more engaging. As Sarah Yuan of the UH Center on the Family observed, “That is what was special about Grace; she was never satisfied with the status quo at all, whether in teaching or helping students find new ways to solutions.” This relentless pursuit of innovation defined her teaching style and left a lasting impression on those she taught.
The LTEC Department Chair Michael Menchaca noted her profound influence, saying, “Grace was a dedicated instructor and exceptional person, having touched the lives of hundreds of students. In particular, students loved her design thinking and mobile learning courses, surprising themselves by building complex applications when previously they may have had little or no programming expertise.”
Dr. Lin passed away on May 7, 2023 at the age of 56, but her contributions to education through innovative thinking will continue to resonate. Her generous bequest to the Department of Learning, Design, and Technology (LTEC) Endowed Fund reflects her desire to support future students in their graduate education, empowering them to create, explore, and innovate in new and meaningful ways. Through this enduring gift, Dr. Lin’s influence will inspire generations of learners, ensuring her impact on education is felt for years to come.
Questions? / More Information
If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808-956-8700 or send us a message.
