Jack Fry

Professor

“I look forward to Monday mornings and I always have.”

After 34 years at SMC, Jack Fry still gets fired up in the classroom. “It’s a kind of physical charge I get,” he says. “The feedback in the classroom, and in one-on-one situations, is very challenging. And I feel that I’m very much present for my students.”

Jack constantly refers to his own experience as a student when he’s teaching. “You need to see education through their eyes and be cognizant of the difficulty they’re having,” he says. “When I’m lecturing, I’ll often remember the first time I heard a certain concept and how mind-boggling it was for me. So I try not to lose that perspective.”

Keeping a fresh perspective was one reason for Jack Fry’s yearly family trek to the wilds of Northern California. “I was a National Park Ranger during summers in Yosemite for over thirty years,” he says. “It charged my batteries and was a great environment for my family. My daughter practically grew up there and she ended up working right alongside me one summer.”

Of the school that has been such an important part of his life Jack says, “SMC has a very talented faculty. But students must understand that learning is not passive. It’s a lot of hard work and it’s hard work for teachers. The effort has got to be made on both sides of the podium.”

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