2008 Woodie Awards
Getting to know Prof. Jake Frederick
Kayla Wilson
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Features
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Assistant Professor Jake Frederick led a somewhat unusual life before entering academia. While he now specializes in colonial Mexican history, his path to becoming a professor was unconventional, to say the least.
The path, as described by Frederick, was "the long road of turning into my father."
The son of novelist K.C. Frederick, he began his education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he received a degree in English after discovering that was where he had the most credits.
In the years between his bachelor's and his master's, however, Frederick worked a series of literally odd jobs: an ambulance worker in Boston, a staff writer for a newspaper where he earned "$12 a week," in a factory where they made cake frosting tube tips, in a sporting goods store, a scuba repair shop, teaching kayaking, and "because I was an English major, I delivered pizzas."
He was also a forest firefighter. "I never grew out of that thing little boys have," he said. At one point during this stint he was sent to Mexico to fight fires because "there was so much smoke coming into Texas that the Texans complained to the U.S. government."
After realizing that he "didn't want to be 40 years old and still jumping out of helicopters," he returned to school, this time for history, attending Penn State for his master's and doctorate.
While at Penn State he was unsure of which historical avenue he would pursue, first considering "the history of science and technology from a military perspective." His advisor specialized in colonial Mexico, and soon, so did Frederick.
"I knew I wanted to teach," he said. "I was always in an instructor position in anything I was doing."
Before coming to Lawrence, Frederick taught at Penn State and the University of North Florida. Having applied at both Lawrence and SUNY Fredonia, which "felt like a place that has gone past," he took up his position in the Lawrence history department in 2006.
The path, as described by Frederick, was "the long road of turning into my father."
The son of novelist K.C. Frederick, he began his education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he received a degree in English after discovering that was where he had the most credits.
In the years between his bachelor's and his master's, however, Frederick worked a series of literally odd jobs: an ambulance worker in Boston, a staff writer for a newspaper where he earned "$12 a week," in a factory where they made cake frosting tube tips, in a sporting goods store, a scuba repair shop, teaching kayaking, and "because I was an English major, I delivered pizzas."
He was also a forest firefighter. "I never grew out of that thing little boys have," he said. At one point during this stint he was sent to Mexico to fight fires because "there was so much smoke coming into Texas that the Texans complained to the U.S. government."
After realizing that he "didn't want to be 40 years old and still jumping out of helicopters," he returned to school, this time for history, attending Penn State for his master's and doctorate.
While at Penn State he was unsure of which historical avenue he would pursue, first considering "the history of science and technology from a military perspective." His advisor specialized in colonial Mexico, and soon, so did Frederick.
"I knew I wanted to teach," he said. "I was always in an instructor position in anything I was doing."
Before coming to Lawrence, Frederick taught at Penn State and the University of North Florida. Having applied at both Lawrence and SUNY Fredonia, which "felt like a place that has gone past," he took up his position in the Lawrence history department in 2006.
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