Joshua Pearl' 19 learned about the therapeutics of music in the hardest possible way: He was afflicted with an autoimmune disease that caused him severe pain. He turned to the piano as a form of treatment, and it helped lessen the need for painkillers he had been prescribed. Recognizing that music could do for others what it did for him, Pearl became a music therapist.
News, Media and Stories | Alumni Stories
Three Pacific teaching alumni are among grant-winning educators in Oregon.
“I wanted to be competitive in the market and earn that edge that others might not want to pursue,” said Zade Al-Khatatbeh MBA '18. He saw earning an MBA as a way to help develop the skills needed to advance a career goal of finance or consulting management.
A kindergarten teacher's extra effort set Lillian Wolfe '20 on the path to teaching.
Ryan Gibbard ’03, PharmD ’10 has been promoted to associate professor in the Pacific University School of Pharmacy.
Michela Kenning OD ’12 has been promoted to associate professor of optometry and granted indefinite tenure by Pacific University.
William Hefner OD ’96, MEd ‘97 has been granted indefinite tenure by Pacific University.
Andy Haugen ’11, MAT ’13 loves seeing his students’ “ah-ha” moments. “You always get a different group of students every year, and you never know what their background or thought processes are,” he said. “It’s always fresh, it’s always unique.” Haugen is a history teacher at Valley Catholic High School, a private school in Beaverton, Ore., where he also is the school librarian.
In the years since graduating from Pacific University, Avery Richardson ’17 has spent a lot of time gaining experience and honing his next plans. “I wanted to do something a little differently, work with more underserved populations,” he said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Jessie Wachter ’03 suddenly found herself without a job for the first time in nearly two decades. She has used this break in her career to launch a small business.