Dear Retired and Pre-Retirement Colleagues,

Though you may not yet be retired or retiring, we want to share with all faculty the resources and opportunities available to support you in understanding retirement, in (eventually) making decisions about retirement, and in finding community and purpose throughout that process. 

First, please note these important SCU Faculty Retirement resources: 

• Faculty Development’s NEW Retired & Pre-Retirement Faculty website provides resources and opportunities to learn and connect with each other.
• Faculty Affairs Retirement website provides important policy information and other resources, including this helpful timeline.

Second, this Faculty Development Retiree Update contains an overview of forthcoming events and programs offered by the Retired & Pre-Retirement Faculty Group. Quarterly Retiree Updates are posted on the Retired & Pre-Retirement Faculty Group website.

Third, we have included in this Update reminders of important resources and opportunities, as well as updates on what a few of our SCU retired colleagues are doing. If you are a retired faculty member, we invite you to let us know about your recent activities, projects, publications or other accomplishments. We’ll include them in a future communication. Your colleagues will enjoy knowing what you’re doing.

Here are some important events and reminders for retired and retiring faculty.

Please RSVP and mark your calendars!

AROHE Webinars

Charting the Journey to a Fulfilling Retirement  

All are invited to register for one or more webinars hosted by AROHE (The Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education).  

Feb 25, Moving From Strength to Strength, Arthur C. Brooks

Mar 11, Building a Financial Foundation, Sanjeeta Moorjani

Mar 18, Retiring Well: Creating a Personal Retirement Plan, Teresa Amabile

April 8, Discovering Your Purpose in Retirement, Jordan Grumet

April 22, Time Well Spent, Cassie Mogilner Holmes

May 6, Cultivating Social Connections, Marc Schulz

Register directly through the AROHE website.

De Saisset Museum

Faculty-Led Lunchtime Tours

Colleagues from SCU’s Department of English will lead tours of Jonathan Calm's To Wherever, Forever at the de Saisset Museum. 

Daniel B. Summerhill

Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 12:00. Professor Summerhill’s work spans poetry and creative nonfiction, frequently in conversation with other mediums (visual art, music, film and performance). RSVP

Robin Tremblay-McGaw

Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 12:00 Professor Tremblay-McGaw’s creative and research interests focus on writing and hybrid art examining whiteness and racism as they intersect with form, aesthetics, and social justice. RSVP

Exploration of Place & History: A multitiered celebration of three exhibitions at the de Saisset

Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 4:00 - 6:30pm

4:00 Auditorium, Reception 

4:30 Remarks by Miah Jeffra, English, Associate Professor and ENGL 74 students: poems and prose in response to the concept of home in the exhibition Where From? Where To?

5:00 Remarks by Diane Jonte-Pace, Professor Emerita, Religious Studies, Mentors, Collaborations, Influences: New Acquisitions from the Diane Jonte-Pace and David Pace Collection 

5:30. Walk-through of To Wherever, Forever: Archives of Absence by artist Jonathan Calm with Ciara Ennis, de Saisset Director and Chief Curator 

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)

Join us for winter quarter courses on literature, film, theater, law, science, politics, A.I., music, and more, offered by OLLI!  Courses meet on campus or by Zoom. Instructors include SCU faculty Marilyn Edelstein, Michael Kevane, Mike Meyer, and Laura Ellingson. Learn more at scu.edu/osher, or email Olli@scu.edu. OLLI membership is open to all, and is free for new retirees.  

Donating Papers to University Archives and Special Collections

Retired University Librarian Elizabeth Salzer recently contributed her collection of correspondence, minutes, and reports, photos, and memoranda to the Archives. Are you looking for a home for your papers and documents? The University library is interested in your work, especially papers that document significant contributions to research, publication, teaching and administration at Santa Clara University! Reach out to archivist Bess Pittman to learn more about donations to the archives. 

Living History Project: Stories that Connect Generations

Don’t miss the oral history interviews conducted by SCU gerontology students with retired faculty on the Living History Project website.

What are your colleagues doing? 

John Farnsworth (Environmental Studies and Sciences, Emeritus)

John Farnsworth gave the keynote address at the La Conner Birding Festival on January 24. The presentation, “The Practice of Birding: Becoming a Better Birder,” examined how birders can become involved in participatory science, habitat restoration, and advocacy about conservation issues in order to deepen their birding practices.

John Hawley (English, Emeritus) 

At the annual Modern Language Association convention in early January in Toronto, John Hawley presented “Susan Abulhawa's Against the Loveless World and Ethics in a World of Strangers” on the panel “Religion, Literature, and Palestinian Liberation.” The next day, he chaired a panel on “Brave Sermons: Religious Speech and the Struggle for Justice.”

Francisco Jiménez (Modern Languages and Literatures, Emeritus)

Francisco Jiménez was honored by Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, through the establishment of the “Francisco Jiménez Chapter” of the Spanish National Honor Society. The Spanish National Honor Society, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), recognizes high school students who demonstrate excellence in Spanish or Portuguese studies. On December 2, 2025, Francisco delivered a presentation on the transformative power of education at the Performing Arts Center to approximately 180 students at Del Mar High School. The students had been reading his works The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child and Breaking Through as part of their coursework.

Francisco also attended the San Diego County Office of Education Dual Language and English Learner Conference, where his book Cajas de Cartón / The Circuit was recognized with the Alma Flor Ada Book Award.The annual Award honors classic and/or contemporary works that have made a sustained and meaningful impact on children and young adult readers and seeks to contribute to the development of a literary canon for bilingual educators. Previous recipients include The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. In addition, Savvas Learning Company incorporated excerpts from Francisco's works, Cajas de Cartón and Senderos Fronterizos, into the textbook Auténtico.

Peter Ross (Mathematics and Computer Science)

Peter Ross published a review of a book on Peet Seeger, “Chopping Wood: Thoughts and Stories of a Legendary American Folksinger,” in the journal folknik, in January-February 2026.

Nancy Unger (History, Emerita)

Nancy Unger was featured on the BBC's podcast History Extra examining the highs and lows of Alva Vanderbilt (1833-1933). Married to the heir to the vast Vanderbilt railroad fortune, Alva Vanderbilt forced her way into the “Old Money” elite of Gilded Age New York, spending millions designing elaborate homes, scandalizing the nation by successfully suing her husband for divorce, and forcing her daughter into a loveless marriage with Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough. In her later years, Vanderbilt became the most important financier of the militant wing of the suffrage movement in the United States.

Allen Hammond IV, Professor Emeritus, Law School, 1950-2026, passed away on January 11.  Allen taught at SCU for more than 25 years. With gratitude for his many contributions to the University and the community, we mourn his death. Read Professor Hammond’s obituary.

Peter Pierson, Professor Emeritus, History, passed away on February 17. Peter joined SCU in 1966 and retired in 2000. In 1996 he was awarded the Faculty Senate Professor Award, a testament to his commitment to students, love of teaching, scholarly contributions, and generous service to the University.We mourn his death. Read Professor Pierson’s obituary.

Many thanks to the Arts and Sciences’ “College Notes” for many of these updates on retired colleagues.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Warm regards,

Diane Jonte-Pace, Professor Emerita, Religious Studies

Eileen Razzari Elrod, Professor Emerita, English

Retiree Liaisons for Faculty Development