Contributed photos by Corina Maeder and Lawrence Kim

For many singles, love is just another uncertain variable in planning what their lives will look like. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, this uncertainty comes to the forefront of thought. On the other hand, some of Trinity’s professors have got the love and career games down.

We asked married Trinity faculty couples to share their stories and insights on married life, hopefully to the benefit of you unhappy, uncertain folk:

Gerard Beaudoin ’99, assistant professor of biology, and Corina Maeder ’99, assistant professor of chemistry

How did you meet?

Beaudoin: “We were both Biochemistry majors. [At the end of sophomore year], I had a project that I was handing off to Corina, so I was supposed to be helping to train her … We got know each other really well through that interaction, so that’s actually when we started dating.”

Maeder: “We got engaged on Graduation Day, actually. By that time, we already knew where we were going, what was happening in terms of our futures.”

What happened after college?

Beaudoin: “Her interest was more Biophysics, and mine became Neuroscience … so we were trying to find a school where we could both be. We got super lucky because we both ended up at John Hopkins … A lot of scientists have difficulties with the two-body problem.”

Maeder: “Then we moved to Baltimore, and we lived there through graduate school, and we got married our second year into grad school in 2001. In 2005, we moved to San Francisco and lived there until we moved back here in 2011.”

Is Trinity ever a third-wheel in your relationship?

Maeder: “Sometimes we have to say, ‘Ok, no more discussion [about Trinity]’ … Especially because we’re in biology and chemistry. Those departments are very close and have lots of interactions. We often have a lot of common discussions.”

Beaudoin: “Because we have similar interests, there’s a lot of things we both want to go to, like the Distinguished Lecturers series. So we [make concessions]; one of us may just watch the livestream at home.”

Any love advice?

Maeder: “Things just somehow fall into place … Advice that I always give is that things eventually work out.”

Sira Shulz, faculty member of the Department of Classical Studies, and Lawrence Kim, professor of classical studies

How did you meet?

Kim: We met in Seattle at the University of Washington [in 2002], where we both worked, and we moved to Texas eventually, doing long-distance … We were married in 2008 and started [working] at Trinity in 2010, teaching together in the Classics Department ever since.”

How does being academics affect your relationship?

Kim: “I think the fact that we both do it probably makes it easier because one of the problems [a non-academic person may not understand] is all the non-teaching you have to do on your time, like research, reading. It’s not very scheduled.”

Shulz: “We don’t expect to have the weekend free, that’s not something on our agenda. You’re more flexible but also you’re not annoyed if the person wants to work all of Saturday.”

In addition to classics, what are your interests as a couple?

Kim: I think it’s mainly that we like to do so many of the same things together. We go to movies all the time, theater, music. And we have mostly the same tastes … But it’s mostly about getting to spend time together, not necessarily while we’re teaching, but driving to work together, visiting each other [and especially having] the summers off together.”

Shulz: “Other people may not want to spend so much time together, but we actually really enjoy it. It’s interesting because at the beginning, we were very long-distance, so you don’t know if it’s going to work, but it does. So we’re lucky to have this job, and we’re very happy.”