Pacific Index

Professor Lorely French looks back on her 39 years at Pacific as she prepares for retirement

   Beloved Professor Lorely French is soon to say goodbye to Pacific. After nearly four decades of teaching German, dual languages and cultures, international studies, and gender and sexuality studies, French is hanging up her hat and retiring. 

   “This is my 39^th year at Pacific,” French proclaims. And while 39 might seem like an odd number to stop at, French shares a sweet story of her and her parents watching comedian Jack Benny, who joked that he would tell people he was eternally 39. The bit stayed in the back of French’s mind, inspiring her to retire once hitting the special number. She also felt that now was the perfect time as her interests in the life of Austrian artist, Ceija Stojka, have kept her busy arranging exhibits, translating journals, and organizing workshops. “Doing a lot of these Ceija Stojka projects, I really enjoy them and thought maybe it’s time to step more into that mode,” she explains. 

   Traveling back through French’s career, she explains what led her to Pacific to begin with. “I had grown up in Vermont and had studied for the BA at McGill University,” she says. McGill University is in the French speaking city, Montreal, Quebec, so she grew up surrounded by the beauty and complexity of foreign language. “I was interested in all kinds of languages; French, and I took up Italian at McGill, and then German,” she reflects, looking back through her life. “I slowly narrowed it to German.” Her knack for languages led her to a teaching assistantship at UCLA where she taught German while simultaneously working on obtaining her Masters, and then PhD. After completing all of her studies, she began interviewing for positions at universities across the country and landed a position at Pacific. “The minute I arrived, I said, ‘oh this is so beautiful, so green.’ And the people were really nice, and the students were very involved,” French explains with a smile. 

   French loved Pacific enough that she chose to spend her career here—and she’s done so much during these 39 years. She’s been involved in almost every aspect of Pacific life at one point or another, but one of her favorite memory’s stems from the handful of study courses she went on. “Going to see some of your favorite places and sharing them with students; I really enjoyed that,” she expresses, telling tales of skiing in Switzerland and sledding down hills with her students while on travel courses. “Also, all the club activities that we do; I just really love it,” she continues. “And I think that’s the advantage at being at a small school, you can get involved a both a faculty member and a student.” The last part of Pacific that she loves dearly is her experience in the classroom. “I may be having the worst day, and I go in the classroom, and I say, ‘oh I love you!’” she adds, beaming. “This really makes a highlight of it all I think.” 

   As French heads towards retirement, she does so with a bunch of plans. “In October to March, I have a guest professorship over in Germany,” French shares excitedly. “After that, I have lots of hobbies.” She describes her joy that she’ll be able to take up skiing during the weekdays and spend more time working in her garden and knitting. Eventually, she’d like to employ her time to Meals on Wheels and give back to the community around her. Despite finishing up her time at Pacific, she’ll no doubt remain very busy and active. 

   “I have really followed a passion,” French says, offering some final thoughts to her students. “As much as that might sound idealistic, I’m hoping that people can follow their passions, even if they may not lead to the most money. I know it’s kind of a cliché, but I think that’s what’s made me happy.” While French’s time at Pacific is coming to a close, her legacy will continue on, embedded in each student and faculty she’s interacted with over her wonderful 39 years. 

   A retirement celebration will be held for French and Professor Michael Burch-Pesses on May 10. All are welcome to join in on the festivities. Details can be found on Pacific’s calendar.