Conversations

Jason Baehr, associate professor of philosophy, received a grant of more than $1 million from the John Templeton Foundation to, first, study the importance of intellectual virtues and how they can be fostered in an education setting, and, second, implement an intellectual virtues curriculum that will be introduced in fall 2013 at a charter school in Long Beach, Calif. Baehr’s specialty is epistemology. He was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch

Gabriel Petek ’95 is a senior director in the State and Local Government Group of Standard & Poor’s Credit Market Services in San Francisco. He is S&P’s lead analyst on the state of California. Petek was a political science major at LMU, and he earned a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 1998. He was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Myla Bui, assistant professor of marketing, studies factors that influence consumers when making purchases. Her research in consumer decision-making is focused on consumer health and welfare issues. These issues include how factors such as health labels, product design, packaging and social environments influence consumer choices. She was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Jackie Robinson, a native of Pasadena, Calif., transformed major League Baseball when he took his place in the infield of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He also changed U.S. society, by becoming the living symbol of desegregation and, in time, a tireless advocate for civil rights for African Americans. Robinson’s life was the subject of a major Hollywood film this spring — “42” — that was written and directed by Brian Helgeland. Just before the film was released, Helgeland was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Andrew Ranson ’98 says tattoos are not permanent enough for him. The canvas, skin, eventually goes the way of all flesh, into the ground.

Ying Sai, an assistant professor of computer information systems who teaches in the College of Business Administration, is an expert in Internet security research and e-commerce. She was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Will Terry ’08, who majored in business administration, is chief operating officer of Terry Farms, a family-owned fruit-and-vegetable farm business that has operated on 1,800 acres in Ventura County for more than a century. In 2003, the family launched a strawberry business, Terry Berries. We talked to Terry about growing strawberries, which first replaced lemons as Ventura County’s top agricultural crop in 1999. He was interviewed by Fred Puza ’10.

Debra Linesch is professor and chair of the LMU Department of Marital and Family Therapy. The author of four books and numerous articles and a former elementary school teacher, she has worked for years helping children deal with the effects of witnessing violence. She was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin delivered the Undergraduate Commencement Address on May 11. Her “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” was the basis of the 2012 feature film “Lincoln.” She told the members of the graduating Class of 2013 that there is a direct connection between storytelling and the work of a historian. Goodwin has written several books about U.S. presidents, and her “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt” won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for history. She was interviewed her before her arrival on campus by Peter M. Warren.

In March 1976, the Argentine military seized control of the country’s government, ruling for seven years. Some 30,000 people were “disappeared” — secretly arrested, tortured in unknown locations and eventually killed — by the regime. Alicia Partnoy, associate professor of Spanish, was among the few survivors. She spent almost three years in prison before being released. This fall, LMU launched Casa Argentina, a study abroad program in Córdoba that Partnoy helped plan. She was interviewed about her experiences and the project by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.