GREG BARNETT
Staff Writer
“Students don’t interrupt my work; students are work.”
These are the words Dr. Jeff Banks tacked to his bulletin board outside his office door in the Cultural Arts Center.
That sheet of paper outside his door epitomizes why over the last 21 years Dr. Banks has become one of the most popular professors on Pepperdine’s campus.
“Basically, he’s awesome!” said Jennifer Leatutufu, a current student of Banks. “He’s very personable and understanding, and he really cares about the well being of his students.”
Banks arrived at Pepperdine after teaching at California State University-Northridge, and ironically, was brought to Pepperdine by a former student. Dr. Mark Mallinger, now teaching at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, was a student in Banks’ Organizational Behavior class at Northridge. When Mallinger found out Banks had left Northridge, he called Banks and pushed for him to land a job teaching at Seaver College, where he has remained since.
Dr. Banks is known for creating classes such as his four-semester Social Action and Justice Colloquium class, but he is thrilled for his newest creation, his freshman seminar class that will be offered this upcoming fall. His new course is going to involve his freshman seminar students studying issues in applied psychology and a class of senior nutrition students. Both classes will teach the other about their courses and the seniors will be mentoring the freshmen about nutrition and how it relates to psychological aspects of their lives, such as stress.
The freshmen students, in turn, will be mentoring ninth graders at a local high school about college life and what it takes to get there.
“It’s going to be really cool,” said Banks, with a smile on his face.
As his classes prove, Banks is a man who is committed to the service of others. A while back he worked in a hospice for a year, and while he doesn’t recommend it to anyone, he says it really changed his life. Now every class he teaches has service learning component.
“All the classes I teach have service learning in the curriculum,” said Banks. “I am very committed to service and find ways to weave it in.”
In addition to teaching, Banks is also a mentor for incoming faculty. “I’ve been doing it for the past five or so years, and I really enjoy it,” said Banks. Banks helps assimilate them into Pepperdine and make them comfortable in their new community.
Banks, also, has traveled abroad to teach as well as to visit his homeland. Although he doesn’t sound like it, Banks was born and raised in Scotland until he moved to the United States at 13. He returns to his homeland every few years to visit family still living there. He has also taught overseas many times for Pepperdine including multiple summer programs in Europe.
Currently, Banks is working on the internship program for Lausanne, Switzerland, program for this upcoming summer. While he won’t be attending in Switzerland, Banks is aiding in the initial planning of this new program that is being created due to the overwhelming popularity of the London internship program offered at Pepperdine.
Banks is also a family man. His love for his family shines through when he speaks of them. He met his wife Sherry, also a Ph.D., while at UCLA and they have been married 43 years. “I still think she’s cute,” said Banks with a chuckle.
“He is the funniest person I’ve ever known,” said Sherry. “From the day I met him until now, he makes me laugh many times a day. How lucky am I!”
The Banks have three daughters and some of his fondest memories involve his three daughters. “I know he feels that Miranda’s birth (which was the first he was present at) was the most meaningful experience of his life,” said Sherry Banks.
Music is one of Banks’ favorite hobbies. His favorite type of music is classical, especially Bach. He also plays the bag pipes in his spare time. While he isn’t much of a sports fan, he’ll root for Stanford because his daughters went there. His favorite part of the day is the morning. “Every day is a gift,” said Banks.
Banks has received many awards for his teaching, but with over 30 years of teaching his students’ opinions of him have not changed. “I liked his approach,” said Dr. Mallinger, who took a class in the fall of 1970. “His class was more of a seminar rather than just presenting the material, it was highly interactive.“
His current Pepperdine students echo the same opinion. “Even beyond the classroom I would say that Jeff is one of the best men I know,” said Jessica Martinson, one of Banks’ current students. “His heart for humanity never ceases to amaze me. That man really knows how to love people, and I consider myself blessed to have him as a friend.”
Banks calls Pepperdine his home, a place where will touch the lives of many more students until the day he retires.
04-23-2007
