“I really wanted her to come,” said Fonseca, professor of civil engineering, chair of civil engineering. “She was one of those students who struggled — she had a lot going on causing health problems and other things — but she was the only student in this technical elective class who was really getting it.

“She really understood what we were trying to do and got very interested. She really turned it around — like 180 degrees,” Fonseca said. “She became a really great student and then got an awesome job designing movable bridges.”

They are pretty cool.

Think of the drawbridges that open their arms to the sky to let ships pass through. Or how about the swing bridge in Norwalk that lets Metro-North and Amtrak trains race by going clack-clack, clack-clack.

Fonseca teaches about these structural marvels and more.

“I have another former student who takes pictures inside of parking garages and sends them to me and asks, ‘What do you think of this?’ I always make sure to look at them,” Fonseca smiled. “I don’t take teaching here for granted. People genuinely like teaching here. You don’t see that everywhere.”

Instead, what Fonseca sees in her classes are the School of Computing & Engineering students who are learning about construction materials in CER 325 and the design of concrete structures in CER 420. These are the future engineers who will change the world with her help.

“I’ve just always liked teaching. I just want my students to learn as much as they can,” Fonseca said. “I want them to know I’m here to help them. They don’t have to be a structural engineer. I just want them to do the best they can. That’s the approach that works for me.”

On Oct. 20, Fonseca will be honored at the Center for Faculty and Staff Excellence awards ceremony with five peers: Linda Bedard, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy; Julia Fullback-Jagiela, professor of management, chair of management; John Jacobi, lieutenant of training and professional standards; Kevin MacDougall, associate director of telephony, cabling infrastructure and admin services; and Rosa Nieves, assistant director, academic advising.

The ceremony will mark the latest stop on Fonseca’s teaching journey that began some 1,500 miles from Quinnipiac’s classrooms. You have to be the student before you can be the teacher, after all.

Fonseca grew up in Killeen, Texas, an army town next to Fort Hood in Bell County. Killeen was a lot smaller in those days, maybe 60,000 people. Today, it’s more than 150,000.

In high school, Fonseca played trumpet in the school band and shined in math and physics. But ultimately, it was her calculus teacher, Mr. Farley, who left an enduring mark on her future.

“I had a schedule conflict with band, so I couldn’t take calculus. When I told him, he offered up his conference hour to give me a single-person class of calculus,” Fonseca said. “Looking back now, I realize how kind and generous that was. It was really good for me.”

All these years later, that enduring gesture — and Mr. Farley — have stayed with her, from her undergraduate days at MIT to her graduate work at Michigan and her PhD at Northwestern. She has become the teacher who goes the extra mile for her students.

Lynn Byers, professor of mechanical engineering, has seen Fonseca teach classes up close.

“Dr. Fonseca is a superb teacher whose courses are consistently characterized by innovative instructional design, a strong orientation toward professional practice, and just the right balance of enthusiasm and humor,” Byers wrote in her Center for Excellence nomination. “Her classes are engaging, rigorous, and thoughtfully structured to help students connect theory to real-world civil engineering applications.”

Fae Hull, a civil engineering student, finds herself energized in Fonseca’s class, even after a long day.

“Professor Fonseca is always going above and beyond to help her students. Her excitement about the material she teaches is infectious,” Hull said in her Center for Excellence nomination. “Often, I will enter class drained and tired, but watching her teach lightens my mood and encourages me to continue trying my best.”

Over the last two years, Fonseca has guided students to impressive finishes in the Student Steel Bridge Competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Northeast Regional Symposium. Both times as a brand-new team, Quinnipiac students designed a steel bridge that earned first place in aesthetics, a category judged on balance, proportion, elegance and finish, along with a visually compelling and technically detailed poster presentation.

It’s just one more way Fonseca connects with her students in meaningful, lasting ways. Mr. Farley would surely be proud.

“A student made this for me,” Fonseca said in her office, pointing to a beautiful mobile with dozens of colorful paper cranes suspended from the ceiling. “There’s a lot of them in there. It’s really pretty. I’m hanging it like a chandelier. It just makes me feel good about what I’m doing here. It’s all about the students.”