Bruce Becker, Math and Engineering

Knight Errant: Where were you before BSM?
Bruce Becker: I graduated from BSM in 1982, so 33 years ago. I’ve been away. And, since then, I’ve been a junior high math teacher at St. Joseph’s in West St. Paul.

KE: What is your teaching background?
BB: St. Joseph’s in West St. Paul. When I left here, I did go to University of St. Thomas, where I studied Mathematics.

KE: What specific classes will you teach this year?
BB: I’ll be teaching two sections of first year Engineering, two sections of Honors Geometry, and one section of Intermediate Algebra.

KE: Why do you enjoy teaching?
BB: Oh, the students. That’s easy. I love mathematics and I love students, and teaching is the place where those two things come together. I’ve enjoyed every single year of my career and I’m looking forward to doing some really good work here, and to meet some new people here at BSM.

KE: What aspect of teaching appeals most to you?
BB: Always the relationship with the students. Always, always. I’m a happy guy, and if I can share that with students and we can share that together, that’s always the best part.

KE: How will you contribute to the BSM community?
BB: Well, my knowledge of the subject matter is very strong, but I also have a really positive attitude and outlook. I think that comes through in my work.

KE: What do you look forward to in the new year?
BB: Seeing how everything works out. Having been in the same place for 26 years, moving to a new place is a little bit scary. There are some anxious feelings there, but a lot of excitement. So, just to see how it all works out, and to see where I fit in, and what good I can do here.

KE: What’s your favorite TV show?
BB: The Big Bang Theory I like an awful lot.

KE: Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, or Beyoncé?
BB: I like Janelle Monáe.

KE: Cats or Dogs?
BB: My wife has a cat. There’s a cat in my house that I don’t claim, so I say that I don’t have a cat, my wife has a cat.

KE: Favorite childhood memory?
BB: Probably watching fireworks with my dad and my older brother in a canoe on Twin Lakes on the Fourth of July in 1976, the bicentennial.

KE: Anything else you want to say?
BB: I graduated in 1982, and my picture is in the hallway, so they can see how completely dorky I looked compared to today.