UW-Green Bay’s Chair of Psychology and anger researcher Dr. Ryan Martin is the Employee Spotlight for December. Ryan likes to spend time with his family along with teaching, advising, and running. He has been with the University for 11 years and has been the chair for 5 years.
Name: Ryan C. Martin
Position at UWGB: Associate Professor, Chair of Psychology
Summary of what you do: I teach upper-level psychology courses related to mental health, emotion, and research methods. I also research anger and manage a blog (/http://blog.uwgb.edu/alltherage) and handle all the social networking for the Psychology Program
How long have you been employed: This is my 11th year.
Brief history of employment with UWGB: I started as an Assistant Professor of Psychology and was promoted to Associate Professor in my 5th year. I became Chair of the Psychology program about five years ago.
Three words that describe you: Curious, Fun, Stubborn
Personal interests: Spending time with my family, Running, James Bond movies.
Random facts/interests: I’ve never eaten a Pop Tart
– Any favorite line from a movie? “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.” (Cool Hand Luke)
– Are you messy or organized? Organized… Very Very Organized.
– Best vacation you’ve been to? My Mom took my wife, kids, and I to Disney World last year. It was amazing. Everything about it was perfect.
– Describe what you were like at age 10. I was shy and disinterested in a lot of things.
– Do you have a favorite newspaper, blog? I’ve really been enjoying Vox.com lately. I think they do a great job of providing background on current events.
– Do you have a favorite quote? It’s actually the same one as above. “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.”
– Do you have an office nickname? What is it? Probably, but no one has called me it to my face… J
– Do you recall any embarrassing moment at work? I tried to start class in the wrong classroom once. It wasn’t at the beginning of the semester either. It was one of the last days and I just walked in and started teaching. The other instructor wasn’t there yet, but a student politely told me I was in the wrong spot.
– Favorite travel spot? Door County.
– If given a chance, who would you like to be for a day? Daniel Craig. He’s Bond for starters. Plus, it would make my wife happy.
– If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you? Ryan Phillippe. He’s about my age and we have the same first name so… why not?
– If you could be anyone from any time period who would it be and why? Can I use Daniel Craig again?
– If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? Whenever someone has a good idea (which is often), I would like the response from the rest of the faculty, staff, and administration to be “How can we make that work” instead of “Here’s why that won’t work.”
– If you could interview one person (dead or alive) who would it be? Paul Newman. I think he might be the coolest, most interesting person to ever walk the earth. Plus, I want the recipe for his Ranch Salad Dressing.
– If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? The birth of my youngest son. My kids are adopted but we were there when my oldest was born. We were not for his little brother, and I wish I would have seen him come into the world.
– If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza. I wouldn’t even miss anything else, I don’t think.
– If you were an animal what would you be? Dog
– If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it? In Defense of Anger.
– If you were to write a self-help book, what would the topic be? Anger
– If your house was burning down, what’s the one non-living thing you would save? My computer. It’s got all the pictures on it.
– Least favorite Food? Mushrooms
– Motto or personal mantra? It is what it is.
– People would be surprised if they knew: How much I can eat.
– Tell us a little about yourself. I was born in Minnesota. The youngest of four. My dad was a lawyer and my mom is a mayor so I grew up around politics and law. I love playing sports, and enjoy watching them sometimes too.
– Top 3 life highlights? = Getting Married, Having kids, Getting my PHD.
– What books are at your bedside? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Deadline
– What celebrity do people think you look like? I’ve heard everything from Russell Crowe to John Mayer to Elvis. I don’t see any of them.
– What did you want to be when growing up? Teaching
– What do you always want to try and never did? Hockey
– What do you like most about your job? Helping students who never thought graduate school was part of the plan start making plans to go.
– What does a typical day look like for you? I get up between 4 and 5 to work for a few hours before my kids get up. I hang out with them and get them ready for school, drop them off, and come to the office. I teach, answer email, meet with RAs and Interns, then go home to have dinner and hang out with my family.
– What else do you do for fun? Hiking, Running, Camping, Trips to Door County.
– What is the first concert you attended? I think I saw Billy Joel when I was in 8th grade.
– What is your biggest pet peeve? Habitual lateness.
– What is your family like? Fun, busy, smart, kind.
– What was your favorite book, toy, or outfit as a child? I read the book Dear Mr. Henshaw over and over and over for some reason. I’ve been meaning to read it again to try and figure out why I liked it so much.
– What’s on your bucket list? I would like to visit all the continents. I have three done.
– Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Here, doing what I do now, only better.
– Where is your favorite place to eat? El Serape… every Friday night.
– Where is your home town? Shoreview, MN.
Live Webinars Scheduled for December