Dr. Zinger began his career in education as a high school science teacher in Santa Ana, California, where he had a direct impact on students opportunities to engage in meaningful science learning. It was during these years that he learned that every student can learn, given the right opportunities. As a teacher, Dr. Zinger helped develop a summer program to engage students in deeper learning and established the school’s science fair. He eventually transitioned to school administration and oversaw two schools with 60 teachers and staff, serving more than 600 students.

In his current role as director of the CalTeach program, Dr. Zinger focuses on recruiting and preparing diverse science and math teacher candidates and preparing them to teach in schools serving large proportions of historically underserved students. Through this 4-year program, pre-service teachers can earn a Bachelor of Science in either science or math as well as their teaching credential.