A French professor in Shanghai whose skillset includes a skillet
In 2018 at the instigation of colleagues in France, mathematics academic Frédéric Toumazet applied for a university position in Shanghai. Though his application missed the deadline, he was hired and ended up bringing his passions as well as his talent to his new home.
Toumazet is now French dean of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Paris Elite Institute of Technology. In December, he was the recipient of the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award in tribute to his contributions in promoting China-French exchanges in higher education.
Frédéric Toumazet (second left) was honored with the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award last month.
Toumazet said his interest in Sino-French education dated back 20 years to when he was a vice president in charge of international relations and partnership at the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée.
That role took him on several visits to Chinese cities, including Shanghai, beginning in 2005.
"I have seen many changes since my first visit in 2005," he said when asked about his impressions about Chinese students. "Back then, they were very polite and quiet; today they are more open and lively."
He also said he has found Chinese students hardworking and more respectful of their professors.
Toumazet tries to teach what is beyond textbooks – like the importance of practical application of knowledge.
Toumazet visits the historical "red boat" in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. The founding of the Communist Party of China was announced on the vessel.
He points out how scholarship and entrepreneurship can go hand-in-hand, pointing out the achievements of German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, best known today for the Daimler Benz auto brand, and German electrical engineer Ernst Werner von Siemens, whose name might be lost in history if he had not founded Siemen AG to develop and market his inventions.
He also tells students not to fear making mistakes.
"I often say to my students, 'Before you are true, you are false many times,'" he said. "You learn a lot from your mistakes. If everything is going all right, then it's more like you are watching TV."
Toumazet gives a talk to students from Shanghai Southwest Weiyu Middle School.
Toumazet said he is happy to see that other educational institutions in China are interested or even emulating the importance of practical application of knowledge.
The French man bristles when he hears vocational studies being given short shrift in comparison with theoretical studies – a perception still held today by many educators.
For his part, Toumazet said he thinks closer collaboration between the corporate and academic worlds in both research and teaching methods would benefit students and wider economic achievement.
Toumazet gives a cooking demonstration of French cuisine at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Toumazet's expertise is not confined to the ivory tower. He plays the flute and is also an accomplished chef. Already au fait with French cooking, he has tried to pick up regional Chinese cuisine during his extensive travels in China.
"I have liked cooking since I was a little small boy," he said. "As I frequently explain, if you want to bring people together, you have to share two things – stories and food. People not only like to eat together, but they also like to cook together."
Toumazet not only cooks nearly every evening at home, but he is also frequently invited to friends' homes to cook. His only proviso is that he decides what's on the menu. In cosmopolitan Shanghai, his repertory is not hindered by lack of available ingredients from across the world.
"The latest thing I've tried was arrowhead which, after being steamed, I cooked in soya sauce with pork and onion," he said. "There you have a balance between different tastes, with arrowhead's slight bitterness a perfect foil for the sugar in the onion. The meat is very tender. It's my own recipe for arrowhead."
Toumazet gives a flute performance at an international cultural festival at Jiao Tong University.
Walking around Shanghai, sometimes with his wife, has given him treasured insights into the city.
"We often walk along a street from beginning to the end, which can be very long," he said. "For example, we have done the whole of Wulumuqi Road, which is actually about 3 kilometers long."
They have also walked Huashan Road, Beijing Road and part of Huaihai Road, where they admired buildings in the Art Deco style.
"I think about music and mathematics on my walks," he said. "or compose poems in my mind."
