I’ve loved teaching the senior-level quantum mechanics course. At this stage of the game, students have enough math skills and physics background to delve deeply into the subject—it’s pretty exciting for them and for me as well. It all starts to come together. I learn more every time I teach the course.
- Greg Elliott, professor of physics, retiring after 30 years at Puget Sound
As professor and director of the International Political Economy (IPE) program at Puget Sound, Emelie Peine combines tools from sociology, politics, geography, economics, and other social sciences to shed some light on how governments, markets, and societies interact to create the world we live in. Peine researches the role of multinational corporations in the global food regime. We recently sat down with her to learn about international trade, experiential learning, and why we should all be studying food systems.
Professor of History Katherine Smith studies what scholars sometimes refer to as “the long 12th century,” encompassing the social and political events from around 1050 to 1200 CE. As a member of the Puget Sound faculty since 2005, Smith has taught a wide variety of classes in the History Department. Both of her books, War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture and The Bible and Crusade Narrative, were inspired by classroom discussions. She is currently working on a new book that examines life in the Middle Ages through everyday objects.
Roger Allen has been a professor, a sailor, a celestial navigator, a physical therapist, and a professor again. The latest leg of Allen’s unconventional career path has lasted nearly three decades, a different sort of adventure than life at sea, but no less intrepid. Or, as Professor George Tomlin said in his introduction to Allen’s Regester Lecture in 2016: “Dr. Roger J. Allen, professor of physical therapy, is not the kind of person you’d think of as coming from Kansas—but he does. Or did … just like Amelia Earhart … first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Assistant Professor Tina Huynh wants to share the joy of music with everyone. Whether she’s collecting Vietnamese children’s music, teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in music and music education at the university, or serving as the Tacoma Refugee Choir’s project scholar, Huynh is passionate about preserving music and passing it on. Here, she talks about her creative and scholarly projects, her favorite instruments, and a documentary she’s created.
Professor of Computer Science David Chiu taught his first class at the age of 22, when he was still younger than some of his students, and immediately fell in love with higher education. Since coming to University of Puget Sound in 2014, Chiu has taught everything from Intro to Computer Science to Database Systems and in 2022, he received the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. We caught up with Chiu to talk about the golden age of dial-up internet, his research on data management, and creating an inclusive, student-centered classroom experience.
The Lunar New Year arrives on Jan. 22, when communities around the world begin to celebrate for 15 days. We asked Lo Sun “Lotus” Perry, who has taught Chinese language and culture at Puget Sound since 1986, to explain the centuries-old festival—a time to rest, gather with family, eat delicious food, and be filled with optimism about the year ahead.
Associate Professor of English and Director of Gender and Queer Studies Laura Krughoff has always loved to write. As a fiction writer and essayist, her work interrogates ideas of gender expression, sexuality, and family formation. Krughoff won a Pushcart Award for her short story “Halley’s Comet” in 2007 and her debut novel, My Brother’s Name, was a finalist for a 2014 Lambda Literary Foundation Award. Her latest book, Wake in the Night, is a collection of short fiction about women in rural Indiana.
When Professor Emeritus John P. Dickson P’84, P’01 initially set foot on campus in 1980 as the inaugural George Frederick Jewett Distinguished Professor of Business—the first-ever endowed chair at University of Puget Sound—he was just 37 years old. It was the beginning of a decades-long relationship with the college that today includes several members of Dickson’s family as well.
