Hank Fradella, Class of 1990, Professor of Law, Criminology and Justice Studies at the College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J.

Learning beyond your major I was a psychology major. But, when I graduated from Clark, I went into a joint degree program in which I earned a law degree and a master's degree in forensic science. A few years later, I completed a Ph.D. in criminal justice. I graduated from all three of my graduate programs with high honors. Yet, the substance of the fields of my graduate study had little or nothing to do with what I studied at Clark. But that didn't matter. My Clark education was superior because it didn't just teach me about various aspects of my major, but rather, it gave me such a well-rounded liberal arts education that I was prepared to go on to graduate study in law, the natural sciences and an interdisciplinary social science, and succeed in all three. I know that my success in graduate school, as well as my success in my career, is directly attributable to my years of study and personal growth at Clark.

Although Clark was not his first choice, Hank Fradella describes his Clark experience as "clearly one of the great blessings of my life." Fradella was so inspired by his professors and learning experiences at Clark that he decided to become a professor himself. A psychology major with a minor in business management and self-designed concentration in higher education administration, Fradella went on to earn a law degree, a master's degree and a Ph.D. "I know that my success in graduate school, as well as my success in my career, is directly attributable to my years of study and personal growth at Clark," says Fradella.

Hank Fradella, Class of 1990 My guidance counselor in high school encouraged me to apply to Clark. And, although I was admitted to some other really great colleges, I chose Clark because I felt it would be a good place for me.

When I took my campus tour, I saw the Clark peapod poster with its motto, "Categorizing people isn't something you can do here." I was hard to categorize in high school, as I didn't really fit the mold of being a "jock," or a "prep," or drama/music "geek"-even though I was a little of all of them. The peapod poster was not propaganda. It was truth. Nearly everyone I knew at Clark "fit in" because there weren't any pre-defined molds to which we had to adhere. In retrospect, going to Clark was clearly one of the great blessings of my life.

There are so many things I value about my years at Clark: the lifelong friends I made; the amazing education I received; and the opportunities that opened for me as a result of that first-rate education. But, most of all, I value that my four years at Clark helped define me as a person. I learned who I was, and I was given the tools I needed to continue to grow into who I wanted to be.

Today, I am a college professor, because I was inspired by some of the amazing professors I had at Clark. In particular, there were three people who touched my life in both real and impalpable ways. English professor Sunhee Kim Gertz taught me how to express my thoughts well in writing. It was the single greatest gift any educator has ever bestowed upon me. Psychology professor Roger Bibace taught me to analyze the world around me through different lenses-even when I was reluctant to see it through perspectives different from my own. And Robert L.K. Richardson, who was both an assistant dean of students and an adjunct professor of education, taught me how to lead, solve problems and assert myself strongly, but respectfully. These three outstanding educators, along with many of the other professors I had at Clark, instilled in me a lifelong love for learning. Moreover, they gave me the intellectual tools to achieve that goal of continuously learning new things. I am confident in my abilities to succeed in nearly any task because my Clark education prepared me to do it all.

As a result of my deep love for Clark, I became a member of the Jonas Clark Fellows, Clark's leading group of annual donors, the year I graduated, and I have continued to be a Fellow every year since then. I do not donate anything to my law school, or to the universities from which I earned my master's degree or my doctorate. My loyalty is to Clark alone. It is due to my experiences both inside and outside the classroom at Clark University that I have a good life today. And for that, I will always be eternally grateful to my alma mater.