Professor retires to chase passion, be with family

Graduating seniors are not the only ones leaving UWRF this spring and starting anew.

Political Science Professor Steve Maloney will also be blazing a new trail at the end of this academic year. For the past two years, Maloney has taught courses in political theory, a field he has been interested in since he was an undergraduate student.

“I became a political theory professor because I took Introduction to Political Thought in college and I loved it,” Maloney said. “I had no idea what I was doing in terms of going to graduate school or what it would mean to have a career. All I knew was I thought it was interesting to learn about.”

For Maloney, his interest in learning led him to the desire to want to teach. “The best part about being a professor is watching students grow in their strengths as they go through college,” Maloney said. “To watch people put things together and discover what they are capable of, that just never gets old.”

Maloney will not be leaving UWRF without good memories.

“My favorite memories are every time that a student has told me after class about something they ran into in the real world that reminded them of something in class,” Maloney said. “For me, this is the primary way we teachers find out that we did something that might have been of value.”

Professors such as Maloney are often not forgotten by students.

“Dr. Steve Maloney is a one-of-a-kind professor. I never once wanted to bore my eyes out, fall asleep, or stare out the window during one of his classes. He is a gifted professor with a knack for making political philosophy totally interesting,” said Tom Crawford, a student in Maloney’s Introduction to Political Philosophy class. “On top of being a really incredible teacher, he is a super cool guy. His presence will be missed at UWRF.”

Maloney’s next chapter will be spent at home.

“My wife and I had our first child last year and it made me think about what I would want to do if I could do anything,” Maloney said. “I decided my ideal life would be to sit on my porch writing novels and spending more time with my family than a traditional career affords.”

Maloney left some advice for students.

“Because there is so much of everything in today’s world, everyone has to make trade-offs between what we know and what we just believe out of convenience,” Maloney said. “Don’t mistake the two.”