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We welcome you to this episode of Faculty Off the Clock, a podcast series hosted by the College of Charleston's Office of the Provost that highlights the personal and lighter sides of our campus's professors.
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I'm Mark Del Mastro.
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And I'm Chris Corey, Associate Provost, and your hosts of Faculty Off the Clock.
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For this episode, we welcome Dr.
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Andrew Shu, President of the College of Charleston.
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Welcome, President Shu.
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Thanks for taking the time.
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Well, thank you, Chris and Mark.
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Thank you for having me here.
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I guess we wanted to start just to give listeners a sense of how you got to be here at the College of Charleston.
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Well, um, I uh before I came here, I was uh the provost at the University of Toledo, of course, uh, happily there and not thinking about moving.
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And then uh one day, of course, I got a call saying that there is an opportunity uh um and they thought that I should consider.
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And quite frankly, I've been to Charleston before, because we used to vacation at uh uh both Hilton Head and Kiowa Island, and and then we would always make a side trip to Charleston.
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But I have never heard of the university.
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And in fact, we were in town and we never saw any indication that there was a university here.
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So so I looked it up and uh uh saw that it was a liberal arts university with no engineering program, so I called the person back.
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I said, uh you probably have the wrong person uh uh because I'm an engineer and and uh yours is a liberal arts school, so um I don't think um I don't think uh it's the right fit for me.
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And uh that person turned out to be very persistent and and then I said, well, I'll send you a C V.
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I will not apply, I'll just send you the C V and you'll see I'm an engineer, my background was not a good fit for you.
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Uh but if the search committee, after seeing the CV, they still think I should apply, then I will.
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So um the rest of the rest is history.
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And here you are, and we're delighted you're here.
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So we we want to explore a little bit uh, of course, it's the whole topic of this podcast, which is faculty off the clock.
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And so get a better sense of your off-campus diversions, interests, and hobbies.
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And um to start, we'd like to have you speak a little bit about um where you're originally from, where you were born and raised.
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Sure.
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Um I was born in China in Beijing.
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Uh and and then of course, uh you know our family uh background was not good enough to be living in the capital city.
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Uh so we were sent away when I was six years old and and uh grew up in a provincial town uh 500 kilometers west of Beijing.
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What was the name of the town?
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The name of the town is hard to pronounce for the American tongue.
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It's uh Taiyuan and um Taiyuan?
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Yeah, pretty good.
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That's that's very good.
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I'm impressed.
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So so in that town as a kid growing up, did you have particular activities, interests?
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Yeah, so certainly uh that this was a northern city, and and of course, uh I uh in the summertime I would uh go swimming, and in the wintertime I enjoy skating, and and uh in fact at one point I dreamed about uh becoming a a professional ice skater.
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So um yeah, there were uh a lot of things, and and then of course there are rivers where you can try to catch a small fish and so forth.
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So do you still manage to ice skate?
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Well, the last time I ice skate probably would be uh at least 10 years ago.
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So I I can still do it.
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Uh I mean if you put on a pair of skates, you can I you can go right at it.
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I'd be off and go.
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Wow.
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Can you can't use I'm very intrigued by this.
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Can you ice skate backwards?
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Uh of course.
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I can uh turn in circles.
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So uh at the at the time um where I lived, uh there was no hockey, right?
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Okay.
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So you're either racing with these very long blades or you're trying to um do figure skating uh where you have very short blades.
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And and when again when I was growing up, um there were not a lot of opportunities.
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I found a very old pair of my mother's uh uh skates from the 1930s.
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Oh wow my mother was a very good skater, and and of course it's all rusty and and everything, but that's the only thing I had.
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So I learned uh figures.
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Uh very interesting.
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Wow, that's fascinating.
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Um growing up too, and you you spoke a little bit about some of the the diversions you had, some of the hobbies, activities you you liked.
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Did you manage to to have vacation time growing up?
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Well, uh it's not a time where were or when people had vacations uh in in that country.
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Uh it was actually uh, you know, despite the the uh excursions of of having fun as a children, it was a pretty uh stressful and intense time growing up because um the family were persecuted and and yeah, no, there wasn't any vacation per se.
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Something that many but but I I do remember one time because uh of the interruption of schools uh due to a cultural revolution, there was no schooling for about a two-year period of time.
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So I had nothing to do at home anyway, so my parents send me to uh my father's hometown, which was a small island on the southeast coast where I spend uh six months.
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That was sort of my vacation.
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There was no school, there was just uh beach uh every every day and and maybe even twice a day.
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Uh that's uh is there something particular from the activities during that time on that island that uh you still remember fondly?
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Oh uh uh just about everything uh I uh about that island uh I remember fondly because uh I was eleven years old, and uh of course no school is probably the best for any eleven-old boy.
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And and uh um, you know, just wandering through the the hills and and the little uh alleyways, and then uh of course uh going to the beach on a daily basis or or play hide and heek, uh hide and seek in the in the mountains.
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The freedom of youthful adventure.
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Yeah, that that was a very small island where there was no cars, no um not even bicycles because of the hilliness.
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Um so it was very safe for the children to just roam around.
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It's it's uh probably a two square mile.
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Oh, small islands.
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It's very small, yeah.
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So uh at that time, you know, we were talking with other faculty about what they did during the summer as a kid, if they had a favorite summer job or or thing they they did.
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So did did you have an opportunity to do something like that?
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Yeah, no, uh again, uh there were no summer job per se.
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Um, but when I was 14 year old, uh our our family were sent uh to the countryside um and and uh of course uh you had to work and you work the field, uh, you know, whether it's cotton or wheat or uh millet, um you you just you you harvest in the fall, you plant in the spring.
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Uh that's sort of uh what happened.
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Uh it's not a summer job, but uh it's work nonetheless, and and I was probably making uh two pennies a a day, and and that was a good wage for uh for a 14-year-old.
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Um I noticed when I first noticed that you were fond of dogs was um during the challenges of the pandemic, and I think I recall a picture of you, or there might have even been a short video of you on the cistern, with if I remember correctly, a golden retriever.
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Right.
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Do you still have the golden retriever?
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We still have the golden retriever, and she's now twelve years old, and and she always uh lags behind when we take her on the walk.
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But uh Did you always enjoy pets and dogs as pets?
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I I always wanted uh to have a pet, um, but uh You didn't have one growing up?
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I I didn't really have one growing up uh in in the city, but uh when we uh like I said, when we were sent to the countryside when I was a kid, uh there was basically just a stray dog who would um come and go and and I would often feed him.
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So that's uh that's right.
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Yeah.
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That's great.
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We at one point early, I think last year, we had a conversation about Rubik's Q.
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Um and I was curious if you had other favorite board games you might have played growing up or with your kids.
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Um yeah, I I guess I I don't with our kids, uh Monopoly would be sort of the the family game uh that we I would play with the kids.
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Do you have uh a particular color you always went for?
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Like my kids always went park place, you gotta go big, build the hotels.
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Yeah, no, I uh I I always lose.
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I'm not a good investor, so I I really do not enjoy it other than just to entertain the kids.
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Well, equally important is your choice of the game piece.
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Uh that's always, you know, a a very um depending upon the family, an intense process at the beginning of Monopoly is choosing your your game piece.
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Did you have a preferred game piece present shoe?
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Trevor Burrus, Jr.
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Not really, but uh you have to understand when you live with five women, right?
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Four girls and my wife, there's nothing that I could choose.
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Whatever is left on the board is gonna be my, and I don't get the first choice.
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I can empathize.
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I live with four women, so I I know how that goes.
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Um we want to You did speak to us about your childhood and your childhood school years, and some, I think, very interesting uh aspects that our listeners probably didn't know about.
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But we were wondering if there was some other fun fact that you'd like to share from your childhood school years that you think would be surprising or amusing to our listeners?
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Uh I I think uh surprising and amusing uh uh uh at the same time probably sad is is uh there's actually a lot of uh manual labor.
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Uh and and uh when I finally was able to go to middle school and and uh we were in the mountains, they were uh basically the the school is is sort of uh a a school in the village and it has to follow the the uh schedule of farming, right?
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So when it's harvesting time uh you would have no school.
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You would uh uh go home and and go join the the the farmers and and harvest.
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And uh one one thing that I remember really well, uh I can't say fondly was um the school, of course, at and no um unlike modern days there are air conditioning and so forth.
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You have to there there's no electricity, in fact, you have to heat with coal.
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And uh of course the school have no way of bringing uh the coal from a mine that is fifteen miles away uh to the school other than the children's so uh shoulders.
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So so we were every fall uh about October time frame asked to go um to the coal mine and then carry two uh big baskets of coal on the pole and walk the the uh 15 miles.
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Uh you know, it's hours and hours of just walking in the mountains.
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And at the time I was a weakling.
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I I mean I was the last one and and uh I just couldn't walk anymore and and uh you know I was probably an hour or two behind the the larger crowd.
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So uh that was sort of my memory.
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That's that's so interesting, President.
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She you know i it it makes me laugh a little bit because you know the the the running joke or or saying in in the US is you know how our fathers would always tell us about these, you know, challenges when going to school I'd have to walk, you know, five miles barefooted.
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But your story certainly puts a a shadow on a lot of these other stories um that we tend to hear.
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I mean, certainly uh uh an inspiring one for sure.
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Well, it's just very different.
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Yeah.
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Uh a different time, different uh uh place.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Absolutely.
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Do any uh again, any fun fact or or piece of information you'd like to share specifically as related to your high school years?
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So uh my high school years uh you know uh I uh started to develop uh interests in in music and and uh you know um I guess as a child and and even today, I tend to want to do things that I I'm really bad at, that I don't have a talent for, you know, uh including my job today.
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I I don't think I have a talent for being an administrator, uh but I just enjoy the challenge.
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And so when when I was in high school, uh of course by that time I already knew that I couldn't be an ice skater, I just didn't have the talent, plus um, you know, we didn't have indoor uh rings, uh so it you know it's only just three or four months of skating, and then you you wait for the next night uh nine months to for for the lakes to freeze.
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So I developed an interest in uh in violin playing in high school, and then of course I would dream of becoming a a professional uh musician, and of course I had no talent, nor did I have the the the training or or the means to get good lessons and so forth.
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So that also didn't work.
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When I played the violin when I was young too, did they I remember I guess I used the Suzuki method?
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Is that was that popular?
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Yeah no, that was not popular in China.
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In in in China those days, there were a lot of uh uh influence from the Soviet Union Union, so the teachers were um I I remember my teacher sh uh he was sort of trained by a a Russian uh teacher, so they they follow the Russian school.
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So we're moving on to your undergraduate years.
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Um can you tell us a little bit about where you went to college?
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Yeah, so uh my my college at the time, uh that was of course after two years um of true being uh working as a as a farmer, uh I I was finally able to get to college and uh and the college at the time was at uh uh so I I was studying hydraulic engineering and and of course um you know the administrators, the power that be at the time said, well, for hydraulic engineering uh the location should be on the reservoir, right?
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You know you learn how to build reservoirs, you go to the reservoir and and learn it there.
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So so that campus was was actually in in the middle of nowhere by uh in the countryside by a large reservoir.
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So um being a swimmer, uh that sort of uh an advantage for me.
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Uh I remember one day it was on my birthday actually, and uh uh I I gathered a group of uh my classmates.
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I said, let's go swimming.
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So we literally crossed uh the this reservoir from one side to the other.
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I think it's maybe um I would guess it's it's at least three miles uh across.
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So now you were in swimming shape when you did this, I'm assuming.
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And your friends as well.
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Um so well the here's the story.
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We we we were all uh good swimmer swimmers that were able to cross to the other side.
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And and uh we we successfully and and then we we walked up um and and and we said there's no way we could swim back.
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And so we found a little boat.
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We don't know who the owner was and and why it was there, this little rowboat wooden one.
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That you decided to borrow.
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Yeah, we just borrowed it and took it to the other side and left it there.
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Who rode?
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President Shield?
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Yeah, all of us.
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Okay, you took turns, okay.
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Yeah.
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Because rowing is no easy task either for three miles.
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So so did you stick with hydraulic engineering as you went into graduate school or just stayed in engineering?
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So uh I uh you know, hydraulic engineering, a lot of it is is uh fluid mechanics.
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Uh so for those who understand physics, you you know, fluid mechanics is a subset of mechanics and and uh and when I came to this country uh I said I want to study computational fluid mechanics.
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And and this was 1980 and in the early days of using computers to study um engineering problems.
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And uh and it turns out that uh you know hydraulic engineering is is a subset of civil engineering.
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But at the time, uh uh civil engineering and mechanical engineering were not advanced enough to apply uh computers that way yet.
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And and turns out that all the computational work was in the uh aerospace engineering department.
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So um that's how I got into uh graduate school uh into aerospace engineering program, which really um in s in the strict sense I didn't change anything uh about what I studied.
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It's the same equation and and same way to solve the problem, except it's in the different department, so I can claim that I'm a rocket scientist, but I'm really not.
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When my dad talks about that period, he talks about programming computers with the the cards.
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Did you have to punch card it?
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Yeah, we we started with cards and then uh advanced to uh like tapes, um paper tapes that with holes in them.
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And you could actually correct the tapes by p punching manually if you made a mistake.
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Um but uh Yeah, and and then by the time I I was in my second year we we uh had terminals and and uh got away from the from the tapes.
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So it's like an amazing jump from that to intentional AI and and what we're doing here on campus.
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Indeed.
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Well we're gonna refocus now uh a little bit more on the theme of the this podcast, which is faculty off the clock, and would like for you to tell us about a current pastime or hobby uh or more than one that you enjoy regularly.
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Oh, uh there are probably too many to uh enumerate.
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Uh I enjoyed uh tennis and and of course uh there was a time when I could play at least five hours a week uh on a very regular basis.
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Um but then of course uh work got in the way and and now I only get to play whenever my children are home and they um invite me to a game.
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So they also enjoy tennis.
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Well, we have four girls, all of them were uh high school RC players.
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So um because I guess I like them and and I just made sure that they all sure um but uh these days I I um found a a more uh time efficient way uh which is running.
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And I could spend half an hour and without any partner uh I I get a good workout, so that's what I do.
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And of course you did the Cooper River River Bridge run, because I saw you there.
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Yeah.
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And you did quite well despite the uh oppressive heat for an April day.
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Yeah, we uh I I s uh I intend to do that uh again next year.
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Great.
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Hopefully it'll be a little bit cooler to improve your time on.
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Right.
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We always Chris and I always talk to our guests, and we've talked to each other about this, about uh a dream off the clock activity that we would still like to tackle but haven't managed to do it yet.
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And we were wondering if you had one of those.
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Yeah.
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So i you know, the the the childhood dream of becoming a a musician, uh I I mean it's still alive in me.
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Uh I I I have given up all hope of becoming a a professional musician.
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You know, becoming an amateur one is still something I'm I'm very much intend to do.
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.519
Aaron Ross Powell What would be the choice instrument?
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So uh I'm I'm still um playing violin occasionally, picking it up uh uh uh every other few months.
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I I would uh uh not an easy instrument.
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No, uh not an easy instrument, especially as one gets older.
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.960
I I found that it's it's even harder to train the muscles.
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:10.480
Interesting.
00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:18.880
So our our last question before we get to our our lightning round would be if if you weren't president of the college right now, what would you be doing?
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:34.160
Well, uh you know, obviously I I would uh prefer to be a a musician or uh or a professional athlete, but I I now know that there are always limitations to anyone's uh capability.
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.119
So I I probably would be an engineer.
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:51.599
Well, always with our faculty off the clock episodes, we conclude with our lightning round where we ask each guest some important standard questions, again, about your life off the clock.
00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.319
So to begin, what's your favorite carbohydrate?
00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.400
Uh ice cream.
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:58.559
Is that even an carbohydrate?
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.519
I guess it depends what you put in it.
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.279
I mean, more protein, I guess.
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:06.160
So that would be your protein.
00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:07.599
I would say bagel.
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:08.559
Bagel, okay.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:09.359
Nice bagel.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:10.960
Everything bagel.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:12.319
Everything bagel.
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.119
I have to have very salty everything bagel.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:20.000
Do you have a s preferred place in Charleston where you get your everything bagel?
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.960
Uh there's a Holy City bagel.
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.000
That's who uh I I I certainly like their bagel.
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:28.480
Okay.
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:28.880
Yeah.
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:33.920
But uh uh more often uh than Holy City, it's Costco.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:35.440
Everything bagel.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:36.079
Oh wow.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:36.559
Interesting.
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:37.839
I'm a big Costco fan.
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:41.759
Uh the bagel's not so much, but Costco in general, I'm a huge fan.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.240
Um you you mentioned ice cream um as your favorite protein.
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:50.799
Is is that still your uh Is that your still your firm answer?
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.400
Yes, definitely.
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:54.559
Um vanilla ice cream.
00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:55.680
Vanilla ice cream.
00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:56.880
Certain brand?
00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:03.119
Uh I don't really have any uh Yeah, no.
00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:06.160
I give me any uh vanilla ice cream, I'll eat it.
00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:06.640
You're good.
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.599
Okay if you're ice cream then frozen yogurt, not as much.
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:25.119
Frozen yogurt, I I developed a taste for only just uh this spring break when way uh when we went to Barcelona and my children found uh a frozen yogurt place.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:27.200
I I can't remember the name of it.
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.799
It's I just know it's green and it's everywhere in the city.
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:35.440
And we w would walk for uh you know half an hour to just go.
00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.279
Pistachio, maybe?
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:38.960
Uh frozen yogurt?
00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:39.200
Yeah.
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:39.920
Vanilla.
00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:40.400
Okay.
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:42.480
The green, I was thinking pistachio.
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.039
No, no.
00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:47.359
The green is the sign is the color of the store.
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.799
Oh, I gotcha.
00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:49.359
Okay.
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:51.759
Pizza or tacos?
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:53.200
Pizza.
00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:56.160
Do you have a particular topping that you like?
00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.799
Uh cheese and and uh um what do you call the the meat?
00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:01.759
Pepperoni?
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.079
Yeah.
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:02.720
Pepperoni.
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:03.920
Classic.
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:04.960
It's a classic.
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.839
Um so in the South, right, we have hush puppies.
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:14.000
Would you prefer the the hush puppies versus french fries if you're getting a fried?
00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.039
Yeah, if I have a choice, I would go with French fries.
00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.599
Mustard or ketchup on a hot dog?
00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:22.480
Um ketchup.
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.720
So you were a musician, but did you have a a favorite band growing up?
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:32.000
Like a in your youth?
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:34.640
No.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.759
Uh uh again, when I was growing up, it was a different time in a different world.
00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.920
Yeah, sorry, I can't answer that one.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:43.039
That's okay.
00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.039
Um favorite soft drink?
00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:48.240
Uh favorite soft drink uh seven up.
00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:49.039
Oh.
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:54.799
Would you prefer uh it to be cold out or hot?
00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:56.160
Cold.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.319
Really cold, like winter to the ice skating?
00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:05.279
Yeah, I I would uh prefer really cold than really hot.
00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:15.200
Well, we are in the the south, and of course barbecue is something we talk about regularly, you know, which is pulled pork.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:16.720
I make it myself at home.
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.319
I have strong feelings about it.
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:19.519
I know Chris does.
00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:22.960
And a lot of people have strong feelings about the sauce.
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:26.720
So the question for you mustard, vinegar, or tomato based?
00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.480
Tomato based.
00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.799
Uh if you had a choice, plane, train, or automobile?
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:36.160
Train.
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:37.599
I I would love.
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.160
I I always enjoy the train rides.
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:42.960
Yeah, I like a good long train ride.
00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:44.799
I wish we had a little bit more of those around.
00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:48.240
Do you have a preferred country to ride the train?
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:56.559
Uh I I think in France probably would be my most preferred country to to ride uh a train.
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:02.400
It's just going through the countryside is just so beautiful and enjoyable.
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:08.720
So this is a really important question and uh generate some extensive discussion.
00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:15.119
We would like to know your approach to dispensing toothpaste from the tube.
00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:25.279
Okay, so you know, uh obviously I'm a fluid dynamicist and and I always uh have a scientific way of of doing it.
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:34.640
Uh so wherever you can uh apply the least pressure and get the toothpaste out is where I would press.
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:44.240
Normally it's um it's closer to the to the um exit or what do you call it?
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:45.519
Yeah, the little nozzle.
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:46.559
The nozzle.
00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:51.680
Um probably two-thirds of the way up when when it's full.
00:30:52.319 --> 00:31:04.000
And then of course, when it's close to empty, I would roll it up completely just so that you can still easily squeeze and and get them out.
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.519
Aligns very well with uh Mark's approaches.
00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:10.400
I find that answer very acceptable because we should have a lot of things.
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:16.240
Popcorn, yes or no?
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:17.279
Yes.
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.559
Do you have a particular thing you like?
00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:21.440
Just playing popcorn?
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:22.880
Oh, butter, butter.
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:23.920
Butter and salt.
00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:25.119
The more the better.
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:26.400
Yeah.
00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:34.720
And I guess finally, our our our last question is um, you know, a celebrity event featuring you, your your walkout song.
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:40.000
Celebrity event uh featuring the walkout song.
00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:49.200
And there are many events that feature you, but and you probably have had entrance songs before, but what would be your favorite preferred entrance song?
00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:50.480
You get to choose.
00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:58.319
I'm drawing a blank.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:31:59.039
It's okay.
00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.920
This is a this is a it's a tough question.
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:06.480
I mean, Chris and I had to, I think, think about it a good bit as well.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:19.440
Would it be something more originating from your childhood, you think, as opposed to uh I would uh I I would uh use uh Brahms uh requiem.
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:20.559
Oh okay.
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:23.599
If that's even allowed.
00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:25.440
No, you get to choose.
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:28.799
You're the you're the you're the featured uh celebrity here.
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:29.359
That's great.
00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:30.240
Well, Dr.
00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:37.440
Shu, thanks so much for sharing today about your time off the clock and for giving listeners an alternative glimpse into your life outside your work.
00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:39.039
Uh we really appreciate it.
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:46.160
And uh as a personalized marketing tool, we're going to provide a bobblehead uh in the near future, and we'll we'll drop it off.
00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:47.119
Oh, thank you.
00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:47.519
Thank you.
00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:49.519
I I love these two on the table, right?
00:32:50.000 --> 00:33:01.920
Well, these are particularly important as a as a marketing tool for this podcast, so we hope that when you receive it, you will uh also sing the praises of the podcast and your experience here with us today.
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:03.119
I surely will.
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:03.599
Thank you.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.039
Thanks again for having me here.
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:12.960
Stay tuned for next month's installment when we learn more about the life off the clock of another College of Charleston professor.
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:19.519
We welcome you to this episode of Faculty Off the Clock, a podcast series hosted by the College of Charleston's Office of the Provost that highlights the personal and lighter sides of our campus's professors.
00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.120
I'm Mark Del Mastro.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:25.440
And I'm Chris Corey, Associate Provost, and your hosts of Faculty Off the Clock.
00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.960
For this episode, we welcome Dr.
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.920
Andrew Shu, President of the College of Charleston.
00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:40.640
Welcome, President Shu.
00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:41.679
Thanks for taking the time.
00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.359
Well, thank you, Chris and Mark.
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:44.719
Thank you for having me here.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:51.280
I guess we wanted to start just to give listeners a sense of how you got to be here at the College of Charleston.
00:00:51.759 --> 00:01:02.079
Well, um, I uh before I came here, I was uh the provost at the University of Toledo, of course, uh, happily there and not thinking about moving.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:12.959
And then uh one day, of course, I got a call saying that there is an opportunity uh um and they thought that I should consider.
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:29.519
And quite frankly, I've been to Charleston before, because we used to vacation at uh uh both Hilton Head and Kiowa Island, and and then we would always make a side trip to Charleston.
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.560
But I have never heard of the university.
00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.799
And in fact, we were in town and we never saw any indication that there was a university here.
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:51.760
So so I looked it up and uh uh saw that it was a liberal arts university with no engineering program, so I called the person back.
00:01:51.920 --> 00:02:08.400
I said, uh you probably have the wrong person uh uh because I'm an engineer and and uh yours is a liberal arts school, so um I don't think um I don't think uh it's the right fit for me.
00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:16.719
And uh that person turned out to be very persistent and and then I said, well, I'll send you a C V.
00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:25.919
I will not apply, I'll just send you the C V and you'll see I'm an engineer, my background was not a good fit for you.
00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:32.800
Uh but if the search committee, after seeing the CV, they still think I should apply, then I will.
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.000
So um the rest of the rest is history.
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.479
And here you are, and we're delighted you're here.
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:48.879
So we we want to explore a little bit uh, of course, it's the whole topic of this podcast, which is faculty off the clock.
00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.919
And so get a better sense of your off-campus diversions, interests, and hobbies.
00:02:54.080 --> 00:03:02.159
And um to start, we'd like to have you speak a little bit about um where you're originally from, where you were born and raised.
00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:03.199
Sure.
00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:05.599
Um I was born in China in Beijing.
00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:14.240
Uh and and then of course, uh you know our family uh background was not good enough to be living in the capital city.
00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:25.680
Uh so we were sent away when I was six years old and and uh grew up in a provincial town uh 500 kilometers west of Beijing.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.039
What was the name of the town?
00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:31.120
The name of the town is hard to pronounce for the American tongue.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:35.120
It's uh Taiyuan and um Taiyuan?
00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.240
Yeah, pretty good.
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:37.759
That's that's very good.
00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:39.439
I'm impressed.
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.960
So so in that town as a kid growing up, did you have particular activities, interests?
00:03:46.159 --> 00:04:09.919
Yeah, so certainly uh that this was a northern city, and and of course, uh I uh in the summertime I would uh go swimming, and in the wintertime I enjoy skating, and and uh in fact at one point I dreamed about uh becoming a a professional ice skater.
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:20.319
So um yeah, there were uh a lot of things, and and then of course there are rivers where you can try to catch a small fish and so forth.
00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:22.959
So do you still manage to ice skate?
00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:30.319
Well, the last time I ice skate probably would be uh at least 10 years ago.
00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:31.839
So I I can still do it.
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.600
Uh I mean if you put on a pair of skates, you can I you can go right at it.
00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:37.040
I'd be off and go.
00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:37.439
Wow.
00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.839
Can you can't use I'm very intrigued by this.
00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.360
Can you ice skate backwards?
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.319
Uh of course.
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.319
I can uh turn in circles.
00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:51.279
So uh at the at the time um where I lived, uh there was no hockey, right?
00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:51.680
Okay.
00:04:51.920 --> 00:05:02.560
So you're either racing with these very long blades or you're trying to um do figure skating uh where you have very short blades.
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:08.639
And and when again when I was growing up, um there were not a lot of opportunities.
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:18.560
I found a very old pair of my mother's uh uh skates from the 1930s.
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:27.360
Oh wow my mother was a very good skater, and and of course it's all rusty and and everything, but that's the only thing I had.
00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:29.040
So I learned uh figures.
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:30.319
Uh very interesting.
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.160
Wow, that's fascinating.
00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:40.000
Um growing up too, and you you spoke a little bit about some of the the diversions you had, some of the hobbies, activities you you liked.
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.959
Did you manage to to have vacation time growing up?
00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:52.399
Well, uh it's not a time where were or when people had vacations uh in in that country.
00:05:52.639 --> 00:06:15.439
Uh it was actually uh, you know, despite the the uh excursions of of having fun as a children, it was a pretty uh stressful and intense time growing up because um the family were persecuted and and yeah, no, there wasn't any vacation per se.
00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:30.319
Something that many but but I I do remember one time because uh of the interruption of schools uh due to a cultural revolution, there was no schooling for about a two-year period of time.
00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:45.839
So I had nothing to do at home anyway, so my parents send me to uh my father's hometown, which was a small island on the southeast coast where I spend uh six months.
00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:47.920
That was sort of my vacation.
00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:55.759
There was no school, there was just uh beach uh every every day and and maybe even twice a day.
00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:03.439
Uh that's uh is there something particular from the activities during that time on that island that uh you still remember fondly?
00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:21.040
Oh uh uh just about everything uh I uh about that island uh I remember fondly because uh I was eleven years old, and uh of course no school is probably the best for any eleven-old boy.
00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:40.319
And and uh um, you know, just wandering through the the hills and and the little uh alleyways, and then uh of course uh going to the beach on a daily basis or or play hide and heek, uh hide and seek in the in the mountains.
00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.240
The freedom of youthful adventure.
00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:51.199
Yeah, that that was a very small island where there was no cars, no um not even bicycles because of the hilliness.
00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:56.079
Um so it was very safe for the children to just roam around.
00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.800
It's it's uh probably a two square mile.
00:07:59.199 --> 00:07:59.920
Oh, small islands.
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.519
It's very small, yeah.
00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:11.040
So uh at that time, you know, we were talking with other faculty about what they did during the summer as a kid, if they had a favorite summer job or or thing they they did.
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.160
So did did you have an opportunity to do something like that?
00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:19.600
Yeah, no, uh again, uh there were no summer job per se.
00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:46.480
Um, but when I was 14 year old, uh our our family were sent uh to the countryside um and and uh of course uh you had to work and you work the field, uh, you know, whether it's cotton or wheat or uh millet, um you you just you you harvest in the fall, you plant in the spring.
00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.039
Uh that's sort of uh what happened.
00:08:49.120 --> 00:09:02.639
Uh it's not a summer job, but uh it's work nonetheless, and and I was probably making uh two pennies a a day, and and that was a good wage for uh for a 14-year-old.
00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:35.600
Um I noticed when I first noticed that you were fond of dogs was um during the challenges of the pandemic, and I think I recall a picture of you, or there might have even been a short video of you on the cistern, with if I remember correctly, a golden retriever.
00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:36.080
Right.
00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:37.840
Do you still have the golden retriever?
00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:47.039
We still have the golden retriever, and she's now twelve years old, and and she always uh lags behind when we take her on the walk.
00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:51.120
But uh Did you always enjoy pets and dogs as pets?
00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:58.240
I I always wanted uh to have a pet, um, but uh You didn't have one growing up?
00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:19.919
I I didn't really have one growing up uh in in the city, but uh when we uh like I said, when we were sent to the countryside when I was a kid, uh there was basically just a stray dog who would um come and go and and I would often feed him.
00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:21.679
So that's uh that's right.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.240
Yeah.
00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:25.279
That's great.
00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.960
We at one point early, I think last year, we had a conversation about Rubik's Q.
00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:37.440
Um and I was curious if you had other favorite board games you might have played growing up or with your kids.
00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:52.000
Um yeah, I I guess I I don't with our kids, uh Monopoly would be sort of the the family game uh that we I would play with the kids.
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.039
Do you have uh a particular color you always went for?
00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:59.200
Like my kids always went park place, you gotta go big, build the hotels.
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:03.600
Yeah, no, I uh I I always lose.
00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:09.759
I'm not a good investor, so I I really do not enjoy it other than just to entertain the kids.
00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.720
Well, equally important is your choice of the game piece.
00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:24.960
Uh that's always, you know, a a very um depending upon the family, an intense process at the beginning of Monopoly is choosing your your game piece.
00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.039
Did you have a preferred game piece present shoe?
00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:27.360
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:32.080
Not really, but uh you have to understand when you live with five women, right?
00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:37.039
Four girls and my wife, there's nothing that I could choose.
00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.039
Whatever is left on the board is gonna be my, and I don't get the first choice.
00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:44.879
I can empathize.
00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:48.080
I live with four women, so I I know how that goes.
00:11:49.519 --> 00:12:03.200
Um we want to You did speak to us about your childhood and your childhood school years, and some, I think, very interesting uh aspects that our listeners probably didn't know about.
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:12.879
But we were wondering if there was some other fun fact that you'd like to share from your childhood school years that you think would be surprising or amusing to our listeners?
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:29.200
Uh I I think uh surprising and amusing uh uh uh at the same time probably sad is is uh there's actually a lot of uh manual labor.
00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:54.240
Uh and and uh when I finally was able to go to middle school and and uh we were in the mountains, they were uh basically the the school is is sort of uh a a school in the village and it has to follow the the uh schedule of farming, right?
00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.440
So when it's harvesting time uh you would have no school.
00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:07.039
You would uh uh go home and and go join the the the farmers and and harvest.
00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:24.639
And uh one one thing that I remember really well, uh I can't say fondly was um the school, of course, at and no um unlike modern days there are air conditioning and so forth.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:31.039
You have to there there's no electricity, in fact, you have to heat with coal.
00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:47.519
And uh of course the school have no way of bringing uh the coal from a mine that is fifteen miles away uh to the school other than the children's so uh shoulders.
00:13:47.840 --> 00:14:09.440
So so we were every fall uh about October time frame asked to go um to the coal mine and then carry two uh big baskets of coal on the pole and walk the the uh 15 miles.
00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:14.720
Uh you know, it's hours and hours of just walking in the mountains.
00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:17.919
And at the time I was a weakling.
00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:31.519
I I mean I was the last one and and uh I just couldn't walk anymore and and uh you know I was probably an hour or two behind the the larger crowd.
00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.639
So uh that was sort of my memory.
00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:36.639
That's that's so interesting, President.
00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:54.000
She you know i it it makes me laugh a little bit because you know the the the running joke or or saying in in the US is you know how our fathers would always tell us about these, you know, challenges when going to school I'd have to walk, you know, five miles barefooted.
00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:02.000
But your story certainly puts a a shadow on a lot of these other stories um that we tend to hear.
00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:05.840
I mean, certainly uh uh an inspiring one for sure.
00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:07.840
Well, it's just very different.
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:08.080
Yeah.
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.559
Uh a different time, different uh uh place.
00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:11.519
Yeah, yeah.
00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:12.559
Absolutely.
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:22.000
Do any uh again, any fun fact or or piece of information you'd like to share specifically as related to your high school years?
00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:48.960
So uh my high school years uh you know uh I uh started to develop uh interests in in music and and uh you know um I guess as a child and and even today, I tend to want to do things that I I'm really bad at, that I don't have a talent for, you know, uh including my job today.
00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:57.360
I I don't think I have a talent for being an administrator, uh but I just enjoy the challenge.
00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:24.080
And so when when I was in high school, uh of course by that time I already knew that I couldn't be an ice skater, I just didn't have the talent, plus um, you know, we didn't have indoor uh rings, uh so it you know it's only just three or four months of skating, and then you you wait for the next night uh nine months to for for the lakes to freeze.
00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:46.799
So I developed an interest in uh in violin playing in high school, and then of course I would dream of becoming a a professional uh musician, and of course I had no talent, nor did I have the the the training or or the means to get good lessons and so forth.
00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.320
So that also didn't work.
00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:54.480
When I played the violin when I was young too, did they I remember I guess I used the Suzuki method?
00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:55.600
Is that was that popular?
00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:58.720
Yeah no, that was not popular in China.
00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:17.839
In in in China those days, there were a lot of uh uh influence from the Soviet Union Union, so the teachers were um I I remember my teacher sh uh he was sort of trained by a a Russian uh teacher, so they they follow the Russian school.
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.440
So we're moving on to your undergraduate years.
00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.400
Um can you tell us a little bit about where you went to college?
00:17:24.880 --> 00:18:05.920
Yeah, so uh my my college at the time, uh that was of course after two years um of true being uh working as a as a farmer, uh I I was finally able to get to college and uh and the college at the time was at uh uh so I I was studying hydraulic engineering and and of course um you know the administrators, the power that be at the time said, well, for hydraulic engineering uh the location should be on the reservoir, right?
00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:12.400
You know you learn how to build reservoirs, you go to the reservoir and and learn it there.
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:21.440
So so that campus was was actually in in the middle of nowhere by uh in the countryside by a large reservoir.
00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:29.519
So um being a swimmer, uh that sort of uh an advantage for me.
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:40.160
Uh I remember one day it was on my birthday actually, and uh uh I I gathered a group of uh my classmates.
00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.000
I said, let's go swimming.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:50.160
So we literally crossed uh the this reservoir from one side to the other.
00:18:50.319 --> 00:19:00.400
I think it's maybe um I would guess it's it's at least three miles uh across.
00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.920
So now you were in swimming shape when you did this, I'm assuming.
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.279
And your friends as well.
00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.720
Um so well the here's the story.
00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:15.519
We we we were all uh good swimmer swimmers that were able to cross to the other side.
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:27.599
And and uh we we successfully and and then we we walked up um and and and we said there's no way we could swim back.
00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.640
And so we found a little boat.
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:36.799
We don't know who the owner was and and why it was there, this little rowboat wooden one.
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.240
That you decided to borrow.
00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.039
Yeah, we just borrowed it and took it to the other side and left it there.
00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:44.079
Who rode?
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:45.039
President Shield?
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:45.920
Yeah, all of us.
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:47.680
Okay, you took turns, okay.
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:48.720
Yeah.
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.279
Because rowing is no easy task either for three miles.
00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.960
So so did you stick with hydraulic engineering as you went into graduate school or just stayed in engineering?
00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:08.880
So uh I uh you know, hydraulic engineering, a lot of it is is uh fluid mechanics.
00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:25.920
Uh so for those who understand physics, you you know, fluid mechanics is a subset of mechanics and and uh and when I came to this country uh I said I want to study computational fluid mechanics.
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:35.200
And and this was 1980 and in the early days of using computers to study um engineering problems.
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:43.759
And uh and it turns out that uh you know hydraulic engineering is is a subset of civil engineering.
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:55.279
But at the time, uh uh civil engineering and mechanical engineering were not advanced enough to apply uh computers that way yet.
00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:04.400
And and turns out that all the computational work was in the uh aerospace engineering department.
00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:24.000
So um that's how I got into uh graduate school uh into aerospace engineering program, which really um in s in the strict sense I didn't change anything uh about what I studied.
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:35.119
It's the same equation and and same way to solve the problem, except it's in the different department, so I can claim that I'm a rocket scientist, but I'm really not.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.640
When my dad talks about that period, he talks about programming computers with the the cards.
00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:42.480
Did you have to punch card it?
00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:51.599
Yeah, we we started with cards and then uh advanced to uh like tapes, um paper tapes that with holes in them.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:57.759
And you could actually correct the tapes by p punching manually if you made a mistake.
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:10.480
Um but uh Yeah, and and then by the time I I was in my second year we we uh had terminals and and uh got away from the from the tapes.
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:17.279
So it's like an amazing jump from that to intentional AI and and what we're doing here on campus.
00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:18.319
Indeed.
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:35.920
Well we're gonna refocus now uh a little bit more on the theme of the this podcast, which is faculty off the clock, and would like for you to tell us about a current pastime or hobby uh or more than one that you enjoy regularly.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.480
Oh, uh there are probably too many to uh enumerate.
00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:52.160
Uh I enjoyed uh tennis and and of course uh there was a time when I could play at least five hours a week uh on a very regular basis.
00:22:52.720 --> 00:23:05.279
Um but then of course uh work got in the way and and now I only get to play whenever my children are home and they um invite me to a game.
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.359
So they also enjoy tennis.
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:12.640
Well, we have four girls, all of them were uh high school RC players.
00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:30.799
So um because I guess I like them and and I just made sure that they all sure um but uh these days I I um found a a more uh time efficient way uh which is running.
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:39.519
And I could spend half an hour and without any partner uh I I get a good workout, so that's what I do.
00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:44.480
And of course you did the Cooper River River Bridge run, because I saw you there.
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:45.039
Yeah.
00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:49.359
And you did quite well despite the uh oppressive heat for an April day.
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.599
Yeah, we uh I I s uh I intend to do that uh again next year.
00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:56.720
Great.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.640
Hopefully it'll be a little bit cooler to improve your time on.
00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:01.279
Right.
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:14.720
We always Chris and I always talk to our guests, and we've talked to each other about this, about uh a dream off the clock activity that we would still like to tackle but haven't managed to do it yet.
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.000
And we were wondering if you had one of those.
00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:18.880
Yeah.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:30.720
So i you know, the the the childhood dream of becoming a a musician, uh I I mean it's still alive in me.
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:36.640
Uh I I I have given up all hope of becoming a a professional musician.
00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:44.960
You know, becoming an amateur one is still something I'm I'm very much intend to do.
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.519
Aaron Ross Powell What would be the choice instrument?
00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:56.480
So uh I'm I'm still um playing violin occasionally, picking it up uh uh uh every other few months.
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.920
I I would uh uh not an easy instrument.
00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:04.880
No, uh not an easy instrument, especially as one gets older.
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.960
I I found that it's it's even harder to train the muscles.
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:10.480
Interesting.
00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:18.880
So our our last question before we get to our our lightning round would be if if you weren't president of the college right now, what would you be doing?
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:34.160
Well, uh you know, obviously I I would uh prefer to be a a musician or uh or a professional athlete, but I I now know that there are always limitations to anyone's uh capability.
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.119
So I I probably would be an engineer.
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:51.599
Well, always with our faculty off the clock episodes, we conclude with our lightning round where we ask each guest some important standard questions, again, about your life off the clock.
00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.319
So to begin, what's your favorite carbohydrate?
00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.400
Uh ice cream.
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:58.559
Is that even an carbohydrate?
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.519
I guess it depends what you put in it.
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.279
I mean, more protein, I guess.
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:06.160
So that would be your protein.
00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:07.599
I would say bagel.
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:08.559
Bagel, okay.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:09.359
Nice bagel.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:10.960
Everything bagel.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:12.319
Everything bagel.
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.119
I have to have very salty everything bagel.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:20.000
Do you have a s preferred place in Charleston where you get your everything bagel?
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.960
Uh there's a Holy City bagel.
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.000
That's who uh I I I certainly like their bagel.
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:28.480
Okay.
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:28.880
Yeah.
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:33.920
But uh uh more often uh than Holy City, it's Costco.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:35.440
Everything bagel.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:36.079
Oh wow.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:36.559
Interesting.
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:37.839
I'm a big Costco fan.
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:41.759
Uh the bagel's not so much, but Costco in general, I'm a huge fan.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.240
Um you you mentioned ice cream um as your favorite protein.
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:50.799
Is is that still your uh Is that your still your firm answer?
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.400
Yes, definitely.
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:54.559
Um vanilla ice cream.
00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:55.680
Vanilla ice cream.
00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:56.880
Certain brand?
00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:03.119
Uh I don't really have any uh Yeah, no.
00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:06.160
I give me any uh vanilla ice cream, I'll eat it.
00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:06.640
You're good.
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.599
Okay if you're ice cream then frozen yogurt, not as much.
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:25.119
Frozen yogurt, I I developed a taste for only just uh this spring break when way uh when we went to Barcelona and my children found uh a frozen yogurt place.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:27.200
I I can't remember the name of it.
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.799
It's I just know it's green and it's everywhere in the city.
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:35.440
And we w would walk for uh you know half an hour to just go.
00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.279
Pistachio, maybe?
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:38.960
Uh frozen yogurt?
00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:39.200
Yeah.
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:39.920
Vanilla.
00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:40.400
Okay.
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:42.480
The green, I was thinking pistachio.
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.039
No, no.
00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:47.359
The green is the sign is the color of the store.
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.799
Oh, I gotcha.
00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:49.359
Okay.
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:51.759
Pizza or tacos?
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:53.200
Pizza.
00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:56.160
Do you have a particular topping that you like?
00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.799
Uh cheese and and uh um what do you call the the meat?
00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:01.759
Pepperoni?
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.079
Yeah.
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:02.720
Pepperoni.
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:03.920
Classic.
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:04.960
It's a classic.
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.839
Um so in the South, right, we have hush puppies.
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:14.000
Would you prefer the the hush puppies versus french fries if you're getting a fried?
00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.039
Yeah, if I have a choice, I would go with French fries.
00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.599
Mustard or ketchup on a hot dog?
00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:22.480
Um ketchup.
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.720
So you were a musician, but did you have a a favorite band growing up?
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:32.000
Like a in your youth?
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:34.640
No.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.759
Uh uh again, when I was growing up, it was a different time in a different world.
00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.920
Yeah, sorry, I can't answer that one.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:43.039
That's okay.
00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.039
Um favorite soft drink?
00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:48.240
Uh favorite soft drink uh seven up.
00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:49.039
Oh.
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:54.799
Would you prefer uh it to be cold out or hot?
00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:56.160
Cold.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.319
Really cold, like winter to the ice skating?
00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:05.279
Yeah, I I would uh prefer really cold than really hot.
00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:15.200
Well, we are in the the south, and of course barbecue is something we talk about regularly, you know, which is pulled pork.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:16.720
I make it myself at home.
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.319
I have strong feelings about it.
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:19.519
I know Chris does.
00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:22.960
And a lot of people have strong feelings about the sauce.
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:26.720
So the question for you mustard, vinegar, or tomato based?
00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.480
Tomato based.
00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.799
Uh if you had a choice, plane, train, or automobile?
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:36.160
Train.
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:37.599
I I would love.
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.160
I I always enjoy the train rides.
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:42.960
Yeah, I like a good long train ride.
00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:44.799
I wish we had a little bit more of those around.
00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:48.240
Do you have a preferred country to ride the train?
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:56.559
Uh I I think in France probably would be my most preferred country to to ride uh a train.
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:02.400
It's just going through the countryside is just so beautiful and enjoyable.
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:08.720
So this is a really important question and uh generate some extensive discussion.
00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:15.119
We would like to know your approach to dispensing toothpaste from the tube.
00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:25.279
Okay, so you know, uh obviously I'm a fluid dynamicist and and I always uh have a scientific way of of doing it.
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:34.640
Uh so wherever you can uh apply the least pressure and get the toothpaste out is where I would press.
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:44.240
Normally it's um it's closer to the to the um exit or what do you call it?
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:45.519
Yeah, the little nozzle.
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:46.559
The nozzle.
00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:51.680
Um probably two-thirds of the way up when when it's full.
00:30:52.319 --> 00:31:04.000
And then of course, when it's close to empty, I would roll it up completely just so that you can still easily squeeze and and get them out.
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.519
Aligns very well with uh Mark's approaches.
00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:10.400
I find that answer very acceptable because we should have a lot of things.
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:16.240
Popcorn, yes or no?
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:17.279
Yes.
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.559
Do you have a particular thing you like?
00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:21.440
Just playing popcorn?
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:22.880
Oh, butter, butter.
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:23.920
Butter and salt.
00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:25.119
The more the better.
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:26.400
Yeah.
00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:34.720
And I guess finally, our our our last question is um, you know, a celebrity event featuring you, your your walkout song.
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:40.000
Celebrity event uh featuring the walkout song.
00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:49.200
And there are many events that feature you, but and you probably have had entrance songs before, but what would be your favorite preferred entrance song?
00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:50.480
You get to choose.
00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:58.319
I'm drawing a blank.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:31:59.039
It's okay.
00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.920
This is a this is a it's a tough question.
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:06.480
I mean, Chris and I had to, I think, think about it a good bit as well.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:19.440
Would it be something more originating from your childhood, you think, as opposed to uh I would uh I I would uh use uh Brahms uh requiem.
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:20.559
Oh okay.
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:23.599
If that's even allowed.
00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:25.440
No, you get to choose.
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:28.799
You're the you're the you're the featured uh celebrity here.
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:29.359
That's great.
00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:30.240
Well, Dr.
00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:37.440
Shu, thanks so much for sharing today about your time off the clock and for giving listeners an alternative glimpse into your life outside your work.
00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:39.039
Uh we really appreciate it.
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:46.160
And uh as a personalized marketing tool, we're going to provide a bobblehead uh in the near future, and we'll we'll drop it off.
00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:47.119
Oh, thank you.
00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:47.519
Thank you.
00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:49.519
I I love these two on the table, right?
00:32:50.000 --> 00:33:01.920
Well, these are particularly important as a as a marketing tool for this podcast, so we hope that when you receive it, you will uh also sing the praises of the podcast and your experience here with us today.
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:03.119
I surely will.
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:03.599
Thank you.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.039
Thanks again for having me here.
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:12.960
Stay tuned for next month's installment when we learn more about the life off the clock of another College of Charleston professor.
