A Look at Commencement 2023

Roger Allen is retiring from 25 years teaching clinical anatomy, neuroscience, and neuroanatomy to Doctor of Physical Therapy students. He came to Puget Sound with bachelor of science and master’s degrees from the University of Kansas in biology, psychology, and health education, a PhD in psychophysiology from the University of Maryland, and physical therapy degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

As a practicing physical therapist, Allen specialized in treating people with chronic pain and at Puget Sound conducted extensive research into its mechanisms, modulation, and treatment. His research integrally involved his doctoral physical therapy students and undergraduate neuroscience interns – over one-hundred of whom were coauthors of national or international professional presentations and publications. Five received international research awards. Allen authored three textbooks on the psychophysiology of human stress and numerous chapters in medical pain textbooks. At Puget Sound, he was honored with the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Tom Davis Teaching Award, and the Dirk Andrew Phibbs Memorial Scholar Award. In 2016, he was privileged to deliver the 44th Regester Lecture, “Echoes of Pain in the Neuromatrix.”

He's retiring to live each day with his dog and guitar, while immersed in music, from theory to improvisation and building new instruments. And the ship sails on…

Professor of Chemistry John Hanson is retiring after a 33-year career. The organic chemist joined the faculty at Puget Sound in 1990, after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Whitman College in 1981 and his Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley in 1988. During his tenure, he taught countless courses including his two favorites: organic chemistry and chemical biology. “Team teaching chemical biology with Bryan Thines was an amazing experience,” he says. “We were able to engage with cutting edge science— reading articles that were just recently published, or sometimes still in pre-print form. We were also able to explore the business side of chemical biology and learn about the people behind the science, which is something I rarely get to do in my other courses.”

Throughout his time at the university, he conducted research with over 60 undergraduates, synthesizing molecules to probe enzyme function. He also published articles describing novel experiments for undergraduate chemistry labs. Outside of the classroom, Hanson served on multiple committees and task forces, including serving on the selection committee that brought President Ron Thomas to campus, working to revamp the faculty and staff education benefits program, and serving on two faculty compensation committees. He was honored with both the Dean’s Teaching Award and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

In retirement, Hanson plans to spend time with family and friends, play tennis, ride his bike, read, learn a musical instrument or two, and seek out volunteer opportunities

Peter Wimberger, biology professor and director of the Slater Museum of Natural History, is retiring this year after 30 years at Puget Sound. The evolutionary and conservation biologist has conducted countless research projects that further understanding of the processes of evolution. He’s studied everything from ice worms to rockfish, beavers, and the whistling wings of sea ducks. He has also utilized the Slater Museum collections for interdisciplinary learning opportunities for his students and grew the museum’s community reach from roughly 100 people per year to more than 15,000 per year—an achievement he says may be his biggest accomplishment at the university.

Wimberger received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 1982 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1991. His course catalog is just as varied as his research interests, having taught, in addition to biology, courses about the natural and social science of liquor, conservation and biodiversity in Borneo, and salmon recovery in the Columbia River—which spurred the creation of Puget Sound’s Environmental Policy and Decision Making program. “There have been so many fun classes,” he says, “and the best part of being here have been the students and colleagues, as well as the museum and its opportunities to keep things interesting.”

Even in retirement, Wimberger says he will still be found at the museum. “There may be a book in the works; still some ice worm, bird, bug, and beaver research; a side gig being a naturalist-guide; and I might be found running a backyard speakeasy when the sun is shining,” he says.

After 34 years teaching politics and government at Puget Sound, Professor David Sousa is retiring. Sousa received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1982 and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1991.

He says he feels lucky to have worked with “amazing, thoughtful, professional colleagues—and with great students.” His favorite class to teach was Introduction to U.S. Politics, where he relished every opportunity to educate his students on the essentials of American government and provide a gateway to building careers and lives that matter. During his time at the university, he pursued research on environmental policy—specifically the consequences of environmental laws implemented in the 1960s and ’70s. Sousa’s research on the subject has been published in multiple academic journals and he co-wrote an award-winning book on environmental policy, American Environmental Policy: Beyond Gridlock, in 2008. He is currently working on a second book about environmental conflicts surrounding American hard rock mining.

His retirement plans include traveling around the U.S. and abroad, hiking Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail and the Grand Canyon, canoeing Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, raising a puppy, and, hopefully, getting a part-time job at the local food co-op where he can stack fruits and vegetables. “I want to wear a smock again,” he says.

Terry Beck
Professor, School of Education

Denise Despres
Professor, English

Greg Elliot
Professor, Physics

Renee Houston
Professor, Communication Studies

James Jasinski
Professor, Communication Studies

Michael Johnson
Professor, Art and Art History

John Lear
Professor, History

Sarah Moore
Professor, Psychology

Stuart Smithers
Professor, Religion

Kurt Walls
Professor, Theatre