James Shinkle, professor of biology
How are you reflecting on your final semester at Trinity?
“I’m a little too busy to do that right now … I’ve mostly been teaching introductory courses for the last five years and was presented with the opportunity to teach a class for a major, but it’s one I’ve never taught before, on Vines and Wines, so I’m going out with a bang.”
What is the high point of your career at Trinity?
“Since pretty much the early 90’s onwards, there’s been — at least every few years — a student who somehow figured out how to mine the best out of me. An example of that is a former student from the mid-90’s who is now a director of an NIH [National Institute of Health] program … We talked about what her career aspirations might be, and I said just ‘Go for it.’ And she did … There’s more than that, but those are the types of things I would say are major accomplishments.”
What are you looking forward to in retirement?
“Well, my wife and I are both West Coasters in origin. We can’t move back to California because we haven’t won the lottery. But, there’s a part of northern-northwestern Washington on the water. I want to go sailing. My wife just wants to get back closer to the ocean.”
What is your favorite thing about Trinity University?
“That I can walk to work every day. I live closer than Prassel ,and it’s not just that — it’s walking distance. I like walking through campus. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that. In fact, I’ve had lots of advising appointments where I just walked right past the North-South foyer, and I’ve had many [advisees say] just, “Hey, we need to talk,” and I don’t need to schedule anything.”
Peter Balbert, professor of English
How are you reflecting on your final semester at Trinity?
“As with most professors retiring after a long career, on the one hand, it’s exciting … On the other hand, I know I’ll miss that energy and that adrenaline that I’ve had in my career for 62 years.”
What is the high point of your career at Trinity?
“I think the high point is within my classroom and my publications, no doubt. During my career at Trinity — that’s 38 years — two books were published, about 50 essays were published and I gave about 30 presentations in places all over the world — Rome, Sydney, Ottawa, London, I could go on.”
What are you looking forward to in retirement?
“I would say traveling with my wife. We have traveled a lot, because whenever I speak in other cities, she comes with me. But there are places we haven’t been, places we want to go. I look forward to that. Also, [I’m looking forward to] continuing my writing without papers to grade.”
What is your favorite thing about Trinity University?
“Oh, boy. Relatively small classes. Very smart students … I remember when I came here, I was recruited to be chair of the department and to make changes. I did that for 16 years. No one has ever been the chair of any department for 16 years. We were able to do some very provocative things with the administration, like inviting major writers whom I had written about — Norman Mailer, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Saul Bellow. We also recharged the department. There were a lot of faculty retiring — an awful lot — and hiring bright young faculty was an exciting aspect of my job.”
Thomas Jenkins, professor of classical studies
How are you reflecting on your final semester at Trinity?
“It’s bittersweet. This will be the end of my 25th year, and I’ve seen a lot of changes at Trinity. But there are things that haven’t changed. Being in the classroom is always a joy. I’m teaching a course that I created my second year at Trinity, called ‘Antiquity, Modernity.’ It’s a course that’s very special to me. It’s a course on how we look at the ancient world through the lenses of modern media and modern ideologies, and I think it’s a wonderful way to go.”
What is the high point of your career at Trinity?
“Doing the production of Agamemnon two years ago … in 2024 on the mainstage was my high point. We — Dr. Kyle Gillette and I in the department of theater — have been teaching HUMA for FYE for many years. He had been kicking around the idea of doing the Oresteia on the mainstage for many years, and it finally all came together.”
What are you looking forward to in retirement?
“I am most looking forward to traveling. One of the phenomena that happens to you as you get older is that friends move away, and friends then are everywhere you’re not. So I have friends in Chicago, and Berlin, and London and New York who I’d like to see more often. In retirement, I’ll be able to do that.”
What is your favorite thing about Trinity University?
“The thing that I’ve most admired about Trinity is that, even with all the trials and tribulations in the last quarter century, it has still clung wonderfully, beautifully, to that idea of being in residence, having intense intellectual journeys from freshman year to senior year, and about learning about lots of different things…I think the thing I most admire about Trinity is its commitment to being a small liberal arts college.
*This article was updated on January 29, 2026
