Relationships matter to me. I am a professor, mentor, husband, father, and friend.

As a previous Resident Assistant and clinician in an earlier life, I aim to forge an inclusive community where individuals can explore and learn while pursuing their own and shared goals.

Mentoring others is one of the greatest joys in my life. I aim to help my students achieve their goals by becoming self-sufficient, incisive scientists. I value each person’s autonomy and drive to form and enact their own ideas and passions. I work closely with students to help them flourish during their academic time and support them in many ways in what is one of the most formative periods of their life.

I personally practice a “work hard, play hard” ethic. Every boon in my career has resulted from the generosity of my mentors, my willingness to take risks and work hard in the pursuit of passions, and my ability to build on and often confront the many privileges I enjoy. I believe that life is short and should be full of professional and personal adventures.

I believe that no one knows their peak potential without pursuing it. It is up to each person what terrain they choose to traverse, and I take great pleasure in helping my students navigate it. As it has been with my own advisors over the years, the student-mentor relationship is often a unique gift of academic pursuits, and in the long run of life, one of the things that matters most to me.

-John Medaglia