Peter Hollenbeck: Back where he belongs
Name: Peter Hollenbeck
Current position: Professor and associate head of Biological Sciences
Hometown: Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Year graduated from College of Science: Received a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences in 1979.
Berkeley beckoned: Hollenbeck, a native of a metropolitan area, left Purdue to pursue graduate study at the University of California-Berkeley. Although he said he had a great academic experience at Purdue, "I couldn't wait to get out of here in 1979. I was tired of this area politically, socially, everything. I was like a car with the engine running. I couldn't wait to get going. Berkeley was like going to another planet."
Journey around the world: Hollenbeck earned his Ph.D. from Berkeley, then went to London for postdoctoral work at the Medical Research Council Cell Biophysics Unit. He was there for four years before moving back to the States to work as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School.
Back to Purdue: Hollenbeck spent nine years at Harvard Medical School, but returned to West Lafayette to join the Purdue faculty in 1997. "My wife (Donna Fekete, a professor of Biological Sciences) was at Boston College and wasn't happy there. We both were offered good positions in the department here, and I was happy to be coming back to the Midwest."
A different perspective: Hollenbeck said when he returned to West Lafayette, it had become a different place than when he left it in the late 1970s. "It is much more interesting now, and has much more diversity, almost as much as central Boston where we used to live. It's a great place to raise kids. They get all the stimulation of what’s happening at the big university, but it’s a safe environment."
'A crazy privilege:' Hollenbeck is passionate about doing basic research, as well as teaching students. He has won various teaching awards from Purdue, including being named to Purdue's Teaching Academy in 2007. "I like the energy with undergrads, and I enjoy training and mentoring new students."
Marathon runner: Don't be surprised to see Hollenbeck literally running around West Lafayette. He has been running competitively for 39 years and has run hundreds of races, including a variety of marathons, during his career. "I like to do two hard marathons a decade."