Daemen College : Student Life : Daemen Insight : Faculty Profile: Who is Prof. Jeremy Hall Outside The Classroom?
Faculty Profile: Who is Prof. Jeremy Hall Outside The Classroom?
By Anne Brady
Photo by LeAnna Shanks©
THIS JUST IN: Our professors are ACTUALLY HUMAN! Unlike in high school, where students tend to view teachers as evil, detention-writing, homework-assigning monsters, here at Daemen College, your professors want you to know they're people with lives outside of the classroom. So we'll be profiling a different member of the Daemen faculty in most issues of The Daemen INSIGHT, telling you such things as their favorite hobbies and other interesting facts you may not know about your professors.
The first faculty member we've chosen to profile is Professor Jeremy Hall, Coordinator of the Mathematics Department (he determines student math placement), and Mathematics and IND professor. Born on February 28, 1977, the 32-year-old professor is husband to Nicole, and doting daddy to two beautiful daughters: Emily, who is four, and Abigale, age two, and thinks fatherhood is "awesome."
Favorites
Professor Hall's favorite color is blue. His favorite food is tacos and his favorite restaurant is an Indian restaurant called Tandori's. In terms of television, he prefers to watch PBS, and his favorite show is Nova. He thinks reality TV is "stupid" and American Idol is "weird Karaoke," noting that Idol is not the only way to make it as a singer.
Speaking of singers, Professor Hall happens to be one. He's the lead singer and guitarist in the band "Distraction Machine," as well as the bassist and backup vocalist for the band "Ten Cent Howl," and one of his favorite places to play is Merlins.
Before joining the ranks of Daemen College eight years ago, Professor Hall taught math at ECC (Erie Community College) JCC (Jamestown Community College) and a fashion college in Atlanta (in the basement of a mall!). Prior to becoming a professor, one of his strangest jobs was working at a condiment factory in "jelly and jam land," where he had to handle scalding jars of jam all day. Apparently Prof. Hall "got canned after five days because they needed someone responsible," he remembers. Not really a good thing, considering he was trying to save up money to go to grad school. But all's well that ends well for Professor Hall, who got a job in a lumber mill shortly thereafter.
When asked what he believes is the best thing about working at Daemen, Professor Hall said, "I like the people -- the staff, the faculty, administrators and students. I think everybody is really nice and down to earth." Surprise, surprise: the worst thing, according to the math professor, about working at Daemen is that the "general student has no appreciation for mathematics. The phrase 'I hate math' is like a mantra that I'm trying my best to eliminate," he says. Apparently, it's not working. In fact, he reports it's actually getting worse. But we wish him luck in his endeavor. We have faith in you, Professor Hall!
The word association game is always a good way to hear someone's unedited thoughts. Here are just a few interesting responses from Professor Hall. He says The Buffalo Bills "suck"; cell phones are "annoying"; teenagers are "naive" (side note: beware, teenage boys of the future! Professor Hall says when his daughters reach those years he will have to get his shotgun ready). Theatre is "interesting"; corporations are "evil"; the modeling industry is "shallow"; Britney Spears is "crazy"; both democracy and history are "important." Gossip is "harmful"; Facebook is "useful...?"; and human nature is "inquisitive."
Professor Jeremy Hall is not only a passionate mathematics professor who cares deeply for his students, but a family man, as well as an interesting, diverse, cultured individual. He's funny, intelligent, easy to talk to, and always willing to listen. Oh, and actually human, too!