The Sophian

Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy of Smith College

Sure, there are websites that rate professors, there is word of mouth and there are statistics, but in this day and age, the true mark of a popular professor is-you guessed it-a Facebook fan club. The Jacques Hymans Fan Club, while only 20 members large at this time, is still in its circulation phase.

The discussion board is full of positive and enthusiastic praise for an array of Professor Hymans' good qualities, from his sweaters to his witty quotes in class. In one of these quotes, Hymans says, "The thing is, you can put anything you want at the end of a missile. You could tie a flowerpot to it as a way to deliver flowers very, very fast." And then there is the student vying for the position of Hymans' "Number One Fan," a position she understandably takes most seriously.

After only a brief and somewhat confusing e-mail interview I now understand the reason students are so enthusiastic about this professor of the Government Department. The most obvious is his laid back attitude and his humorous outlook on life.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Hymans paints a rosy picture of his childhood, explaining that, "[t]he playground is a very inviting place for kids whose first name is Jacques." He must have felt somewhat inspired by this happy childhood, because from there he attended Harvard University. As is so common with teachers, Hymans has teaching in his blood. His decision to become a professor was influenced by his father whom he idolized, a professor at San Francisco State University.

However, remaining true to his humorous style, when asked when he started teaching at Smith, Hymans replied with a witty, "Have I started teaching yet? You better check with my students." In fact Hymans has done his fair share of teaching and then some. Along with receiving his Ph. D. from Harvard in 2001, he has also become an affiliate of the Center for European Studies and an associate of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, both of Harvard University, has held residential fellowships at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and the Mershon Center at the Ohio State University, and on top of that published his book: "The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions and Foreign Policy." Needless to say, Hymans' students have probably learned a thing or two.

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