Students typically only view their professors through a student-teacher perspective.  They enter class, get lectured, get their assignments for the next class and then leave.  Students often forget that professors are people too, and can be a vessel of useful information and interesting stories.

With this in mind I sought an interview with a unique Gannon faculty member, Professor Kibler, and asked him about his life experiences and his teaching career at Gannon.  So, here are five facts about Gannon University’s Professor Kibler:

              1.       Professor Kibler lived and worked in Germany for 17 years.

“Right after I got my second Master’s degree from John Hopkins, I basically got on a plane and moved to Germany to look for a job. I started off there and got a job almost immediately… at a German Winegrowers’ Association…  I worked for them for about eight or nine months, and then got a job in the telecommunications field at the former monopoly Deutsche Telekomm.  I worked for their mobile communications division, so cellular phones, which had just opened up in 1993.

2.       In addition to Germany, he has been all over the world.

“Basically, I’ve been to pretty much every European country, with a couple of exceptions: Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal.  I haven’t made it to Andorra…  I’ve been to Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Belgium, France, Poland.”

3.       Kibler teaches international business and policy courses.

“I predominantly teach, on the undergraduate level, Business Policy; and the graduate level is Business Policy and Strategy.  They’re the capstone courses for the business curriculum.”

4.       He believes his students would describe him as “rigorous.”

“I think there’s a huge difference in how students perceive me at the beginning of the semester to how they perceive me at the end of the semester.  At the end of the semester, I would say a majority would think, ‘Wow, what an experience! I learned so much.  This was rigorous, it was a heck of a lot of work, but it took me someplace and I understand the world in a different way now.’”

5.       Kibler’s experiences abroad helped shape his teaching style.

“I’m never really at a loss for real-life examples of whatever it is we’re talking about.  My entire career was international… I think there’s a richness of examples I can use in class to make it more interesting.”

By getting to know your professors on a more personal level, you get to learn about their passions and interests.  By interviewing Professor Kibler, I discovered that he has a passion for travel, helping his students become more globally aware, and is a dedicated contributor to the Gannon community.  So, go ahead and stick around after class one day to actually talk to your professors.  You never know what you might discover!