Robert Boram

My early memories take me back to growing up in Africa. When not involved in home school lessons, I would explore the jungle, visit bat caves, chase chimpanzees out of the banana patch, and watch green monkeys feast on cashew and other native fruits. I learned to play soccer with the other children in the village. While I have good memories of growing up in Africa, I did miss out on television, movies, fast food, top 40 music, dependable electricity, and other modern experiences. Needless to say, there was some serious adjusting to life in the United States, as a 7th grader, when my family returned from Africa. Adjusting to a new culture was not easy for this awkward middle school student. Thankfully, my Christian family was always there for me and it helped greatly with the transition. Between my sophomore and junior year of college, I took a gap year to teach conversational English and an occasional Bible class in Japan. When I went to Japan, I was succeeding with my pre-med program and was on track to start medical school in a couple years. However, the teaching experience was so successful, that I decided to switch from pre-med to secondary science teaching. There was another change, I decided to move from borrowing the religion of my parents to adopting my own set of beliefs. I remember reading some passages in the book of Romans and was deeply moved by what Jesus had done for me. I hand copied the passages, in my best handwriting, and gave them to a friend. (The friend didn’t really know how to respond.) When I completed graduate school, I applied to a number of faculty positions around the country. I wanted to find a faculty position that was a good match for my skill set. I trusted that God would guide me in this search. I fully expected to return to California, but budget cuts cancelled all the open positions. I came in second at several interviews and was beginning to wonder why the process was dragging on. One position wanted to hire me, but they hadn’t followed the correct search procedure, so the search was aborted. I was becoming concerned. Had God forgotten me? I received a call for an interview at my current university. It turned out to be the perfect match for my skill set.

My Life

Friends describe me

“Never met a stranger”

My hobbies

Gardening, Exercise, Golf, Cooking, and Stain Glass

Fantasy dinner guests

Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmy Carter, Timothy, and Esther

My undergrad alma mater

Loma Linda University-Riverside Campus (Now known as La Sierra University)

My worst subject in school

Art-Painting

In college I drove

Mostly I walked, but when I needed a car I drove whatever was available in the family fleet.

If I weren't a professor, I would

I would: be a farmer or middle school science teacher

Favorite books

“Morning Mercies” (Tripp)

Favorite movies

“The Gods Must Be Crazy” “Harriet” “A Fish Called Wanda” “Green Book”

Favorite city

San Francisco; Tokyo; San Jose, Costa Rica

Favorite coffee

Totally Nuts Flavored

Nobody knows I

have a well equipped stain glass studio

My latest accomplishment

Reengineering all classes into asynchronous online experiences