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Balancing the Seesaw
Olivia Mitchell is catching a late flight to Brazil.
The new Brazilian government has just announced
that it will be making a national pension system
their top priority. A better project couldn't be found
for Mitchell: her research on retirement, pensions,
longevity, and annuities has taken her around the
globe. She will be speaking at a convention and
meeting with key players in the new system.
"At Wharton, we are all citizens of the world –
our research agenda encompasses the world. That is
one of the things that has made it such a good fit for
me," she says. Through Wharton, she has traveled
to Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia, among other
countries. "There is a huge amount of encouragement
on the part of the administration and fellow faculty
to pursue things to the end. They will help you with
whatever you need. They will literally take you
wherever you want to go."
With the ability and the support to follow the
call of research opportunities just about anywhere,
however, comes the need to balance research with
teaching on campus.
"How do I balance research and teaching? I give
up sleep!" she jokes. But in reality, it is not an issue,
she says, because she loves to teach. "At a top-notch
university, people are excited about their research, and
they carry over that excitement into the classroom,
and vice versa," she explains. "Most people who enjoy
teaching are a little bit of a ham, and that holds true
for me. I enjoy getting students to think in new ways
about preconceived notions. In a long-term way,
I am teaching students who will go on to teach the
next generation."
Siegel agrees: "I love teaching, and I love working
on real, bottom-line research issues. I take that research
right into my classroom."
Donaldson describes the balancing act as a seesaw.
"I've been at schools where faculty only talk about what
goes on in the classroom. At other places, the
assumption is that if you teach in an engaging manner,
you won't have time for research. Wharton has managed
to get the seesaw pretty horizontal. And I've never been
at a place that gives so many awards for teaching. Here,
teachers are respected by their colleagues for teaching
well – not just for their research."
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