Roddy in his typical Robes and wearing a LEAD Pin. The professor at a medieval excavation site in Wales. Professor Kevin Roddy is perhaps the closest they come to being the quintessential college

professor. He is most noted for wearing his doctoral robes during lecture.

Kevin Roddy. Photo by Larry Dalton. He was originally involved in computers (He even wrote a book about

UNIX word processing utilities) but after the outsourcing of jobs overseas, he became a Medieval Studies professor. Roddy was an undergraduate at Gonzaga University and graduated with a B.A. in English. He has a M.A. in English from the University of Iowa, and holds a Ph.D in English from UC Davis. The Professor has also written some poetry pieces that can be found on his website and has a painting he did of the Newman Center on display at Newman. Roddy is very supportive of the Newman Community and generously assists in many of their events. It is rumoured Roddy once fought 4 bears by himself, and has a secret covenant with God.

Roddy runs class discussions himself, though he often tries to get the students to facilitate it. You will be definitely surprised the first time you're handed back a paper in Roddy's class; he has a reputation for ripping position papers apart. Roddy even has rare artifacts and documents (some obtained through questionable circumstances), causing some to liken him to Professor Jones. Many freshmen may be surprised when he knows your name after the first week of class. One thing is certain (aside from the fact his name is Kevin Roddy, and he lives in Davis), after having a class with him, you will either hate his guts or love him to death.

Roddy was featured in The California Aggie on Feb. 27, 2006.

Roddy has supported LEAD in the past, and pro-Student Focus discussions have occurred in his class as well.

Roddy was arrested (along with 24 others) in an act of civil disobedience as part of the food-service union demonstrations on May 1, 2007.

Roddy will retire at the end of Spring quarter 2010. His final quarter has been marked by a number of unusual happenings: A chorus of singers in the library and the second coming, to name a few.

The professor leading the library chorus on dead day 2010. Posing with some of his students after serenading Voorhies Hall. Goodbye, professor Roddy.

Comments:

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I love him to death!! He is the best professor I ever had! - SharonZimmerman

2007-05-01 18:30:47   i was more than pleased to get arrested with him today, he is a great man —KatieDavalos

2008-09-24 23:42:50   Professor Roddy can smell fear and I love him for it. —SamanthaA

2008-10-08 20:09:18   Professor Roddy gave me a quarter for answering a question right. He is the best teacher ever. —AndrewHarrison

2009-04-27 20:34:29   Professor Roddy has changed my life—I am now a Medieval Studies minor. His papers make me cry (they are so brutal) but I know that I am a more analytical and critically-thinking student and person because of him. When he leaves, he'll take a part of me with him. What a great Guy and an OUTSTANDING professor. —ArianeMetz

2010-06-05 22:09:11   Kevin has also been a wonderful colleague: he's full of wise advice, welcome stories, and encouraging words. It's a delight to encounter someone so courageously noble in mind and heart. I will definitely miss having his office close to mine — I wish the students waiting to see me looked as eager as his do! —DrandyJones

2010-10-03 22:51:09   Roddy Retirement Activities Update: Seen setting a World Record this morning, nbd. —AmandaD

2011-11-22 08:26:54   Dr. Roddy was the best instructor I had at UCD period. I learned more (and more about learning) from the 3 classes I had with him than all the others combined. The A- I received on one of his position papers is the achievement I am most proud of of my entire academic and post-academic career. -Lance '95 —LanceLarka

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