While many Brown graduates scatter across the world after their time on College Hill, some find themselves staying in or returning to Providence. The Herald spoke to three alums who are now employed by the University.
For Michael Stewart MA’07, an associate teaching professor of English, pursuing academia in a place that felt familiar and comforting was an inviting opportunity. As a graduate student at Brown, Stewart had the opportunity to teach undergraduates during his program.
“My brief exposure to teaching here made it very clear to me that that was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Stewart said in an interview with The Herald.
Brown undergraduates are “incredibly self-motivated,” Stewart said, recalling being taken aback by the levels of effort his students put into their work.
While he noted that being a faculty member at Brown comes with its unique aspects, such as the complexities of shopping period, Stewart found that his experiences as a former Brown student provided valuable insight into navigating these challenges.
“It’s nice to have a sense of what your students are going through,” he said.
As of now, Stewart does not plan to leave Brown, grateful to give back to a place that holds such sentimental value to him. He described the University as ever-changing. “I feel like I’m just learning how to do it every year,” he said.
Over 20 years before Associate Teaching Professor of Economics Brad Gibbs ’93 MAT’18 P’27 P’29 began teaching at Brown, he entered Brown’s classrooms as an undergraduate student. He returned to the University after years of living abroad in various countries, jumping between different finance-related roles.
Gibbs said he was always attracted to the idea of teaching. “I thought that there was a vibrancy and an energy that must have something to do with being around a campus,” he said. In 2016, he returned to his alma mater to pursue a master’s degree in teaching.
Like Stewart, Gibbs sees teaching at Brown as a way to return to his community, enlivened by the idea of a mission-driven working environment. “I absolutely love having the opportunity to teach in classrooms that I sat in as a student and advance my pedagogy,” Gibbs added.
“I understand the challenges of being an undergraduate here,” Gibbs said, pointing to his time as a student-athlete. Having “walked the same paths” as his students, Gibbs finds that his experience allows him to empathize with the effort it takes to juggle the academic and extracurricular opportunities that Brown offers.
As a professor, Gibbs said he doesn’t hesitate to encourage students to “take the intellectual risks” that he himself didn’t and later regretted.
The “fountain of youth” on campus inspires him to stay at Brown, he added.
The world of academia is not the only reason alums come back to campus. Sarah Frank ’25 was hired earlier this year as a project manager for the “130 Years of Jewish Life at Brown” event, after working with Alumni Relations when she was a student.
When the celebration ended, she realized she wanted to remain at Brown and took the “sensible next step … to continue working in the University ecosystem.” This fall, Frank began working full-time in her new role as a University scheduler.
Frank’s decision to apply for full-time jobs at Brown “was a combination of it being a place that I love so much and know so well.” She said her first fall semester on campus confirmed that she wanted to stay somewhere in Rhode Island, and working at Brown “seemed to be the most reliable and most comforting road.”
“I feel a wave of nostalgia every morning on the way to campus,” Frank said. The feeling is bittersweet — being back in a place she learned much from, but without the people whom she shared the journey with.
Frank views her undergraduate experience as her most valuable insight when responding to students’ scheduling requests. “I have been the requester,” Frank said. “I know what it’s like to have an English class in Barus and Holley.”
Now as a staff member, Frank is learning more about the inner workings of her own undergraduate years. When, for example, investigating lesser-known departments, Frank feels that she is “completing a collection of knowledge that began as a student,” she said.
Frank would love to stay at Brown in the long term, a place where she said she feels “comfortable, happy and helpful.”
