Faculty members share why they said yes to Penn

Incoming freshmen aren’t the only ones who chose Penn — faculty members were drawn to the University for their own reasons.

Many Penn educators found a home at Penn. Whether they joined Penn’s faculty after finishing graduate school as a Quaker or abroad, and whether they were attracted by teaching or research, Penn educators believe that the Penn community, students, resources and fellow colleagues are one of a kind.

Mathematics professor Nakia Rimmer

In 1997, Nakia Rimmer found his niche.

When the current Department Head of Undergraduate Math first came to Penn as a graduate student in 1997, he immediately knew this was where he wanted to spend the remainder of his career.

“There’s a certain energy I like that the school has ... [After] the positive experience working with the Math Department, getting the master’s [and] working closely with Dean DeTurk as my master’s advisor, this quickly became the number one place I wanted to work at,” Rimmer said.

After graduate school, Rimmer taught in the Philadelphia public school system, the Community College of Philadelphia and West Chester University before earning a second master’s degree in applied math at the University of Delaware — which allowed him to return to Penn to teach full time in 2006.

Rimmer said that working at Penn offers flexibility and many opportunities to implement new, non-traditional ways of teaching. Six or seven years ago, Rimmer was able to create calculus courses online so that students could take calculus over the summer or abroad.

“I think I would have encountered resistance at other institutions ... Penn allowed me that ability and I appreciate that,” Rimmer said.

He added that his students constantly inspire him. His favorite part of teaching at Penn is the first few weeks of the fall semester teaching Math 103 and 104.

”Freshman come in and I sometimes am the first professor they see at Penn and they’re very energetic and very motivated to do well,” Rimmer said.

Criminology professor Adrian Raine

Originally hailing from England, Criminology Department Chair Adrian Raine came to Penn when its Criminology Department was budding eight years ago.

When Larry Sherman set up Penn’s Criminology Department — the first at any Ivy League institution — he called Raine, who had been teaching in Los Angeles for 20 years.

Raine was thinking about returning to teach in England at the time and had even received two other offers from English colleges. He decided that he would visit Philadelphia on the way to England, but in a twist of fate he realized he lost his passport and green card.

During the three months it took to replace his passport and green card, Raine traveled to Philadelphia twice and was smitten.

“It wasn’t just the institution. It wasn’t just the location. It was the people I met,” Raine said. “You have leaders of departments who are very vibrant, very energetic ... who can draw you to the institution and make you excited about being part of a bigger plan.”

Raine arrived at Penn as a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, so he had connections with not just the Department of Criminology but also those of Psychology and Psychiatry. At the time he interviewed, there was only one other criminology professor at Penn.

Raine appreciates Penn’s proximity to Philadelphia itself. “I could feel the heartbeat of Philadelphia right there in Center City ... It was like England ... being able to walk on the streets ... the masonry and brick work,” he said. “I feel like I’m back home and I can say that I feel like I’m more at home in Philadelphia than I ever have in the 20 years I spent in Los Angeles ... It’s my home away from home.”

Classics professor Peter Struck

After arriving at Penn 15 years ago after teaching at Ohio State University, Classics professor Peter Struck, who is particularly interested in mythology, made his “nostos” — a Greek word meaning “homecoming.”

“In my wildest dreams of my academic career, this is it. I don’t imagine there would be another place I could aspire for. I felt incredibly lucky — there are more people out there who want to do this job than there are jobs out there,” Struck said.

While Struck enjoys the camaraderie among faculty at Penn, he enjoys the integrative nature of the academic climate.

“It’s a very decentralized place ... It’s not like there’s one thing we do here. There’s a lot of things we do here ... There’s a lot of different ‘Penns’ out there depending on which part of the institution you’re in.”

As a Classics professor, Struck was particularly drawn to Penn’s fostering of a liberal arts education, stressing that the University offers academic freedom and does not impose roadblocks in academic pursuits.

“Not every academic institution these days has such a commitment to intellectual freedom,” Struck said. “Penn absolutely does, and that’s the thing I probably most admire about it.”

Economics senior lecturer Rebecca Stein

In 1998, Rebecca Stein left the Windy City and was blown away by Penn.

One could say that Director of the Microeconomics Principles Program, Senior Lecturer Rebecca Stein arrived here by a chance of fate — when her husband was hired at Penn, she left Chicago after completing her Ph.D. at Northwestern and also took a spot among the faculty. Penn’s liberal arts focus was an added draw.

Stein realized Penn was her true home was when she rejected a job offer at another university.

“I had to think a lot about what my priorities are and that’s when I decided that [it] was teaching over research and this position is very teaching oriented,” Stein said.

She has been teaching here for 18 years and said that she has truly found where she belongs. “I love teaching here. That comes across doesn’t it?” Stein said. “[My favorite thing about Penn] is really the students and [Penn’s] institutional support of teaching.”

Stein also said her job offers a balance between work and family, which is something few professionals are lucky enough to have, as well as a large range of positions and opportunities for those working here.

“There’s a range of positions at Penn,” Stein said. “This place has many, many different facets and strengths in all these different dimensions. You have faculty that came here for research, you have faculty that came here for teaching, you have faculty that came here for administrative roles; and they all find strength to grow.”

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