Pat Widolff If it weren’t for a failed attempt at owning his own grocery store, Pat Widolff may have never ended up at the University of La Verne. Having grown up in a small town in Indiana in the back of the tavern and store his father owned, Widolff and his brother thought it would be a good idea to open their own store. Unfortunately the idea did not have the desired outcome, but it did prove as a learning experience. “It’s good to try new things,” says Widolff, who has no regrets. Besides, if the store had been a success, he may not have ended up at the University of La Verne. “I’m so excited I wound up here,” Widolff says. “I’m really happy here. I love the town of La Verne. It’s been super.” While he teaches movement and sport science at ULV, Widolff was a math teacher prior to his grocery store days. Coaching, exercise and research had always been just a hobby. When he was 35, he decided to turn his hobby into a career and received his master’s degree in physiology. “It took me a while to get here,” Widolff says. “I guess you could say I’ve had a two-stage career.” It wasn’t hard for him to go back to school, Widolff says. His wife was very supportive in the decision, and they did not yet have any kids. He says he enjoyed the experience and was probably a better student than he would have been had he done it sooner. Widolff says it is a lot easier to complete a master’s degree following the undergraduate, but that wasn’t the way things worked out. Widolff had participated in football and track and field through college. For a time before coming to ULV, he helped his brother coach football at Occidental. Eventually finding his way to coaching track, he has done so at the high school and college level. Widolff finds there is more dedication at the college level. “In high school a lot of kids are just out there because of their peers and family,” he says. “In college, you get people who really want to be good. ” As far as teaching is concerned, he says, “I enjoy most seeing research and lab results students do under direction.” The program at ULV is very scientific oriented, and students can expect to learn a lot about exercise and the effects of exercise, he adds. “I like exercise physiology the most because we’re learning more and more about it all the time,” Widolff says. “The health aspects too. As I get older I get more interested.” Widolff likes to study track and field coaching techniques, and also enjoys reading a lot of non fiction. He is particularly interested in history and historical events, and enjoys reading about why things happen historically. He admits it’s a good question as to why he didn’t originally pursue history rather than math. “I loved history a lot,” he says. RETURN TO FACULTY LISTmailto:widolffp@ulv.edu?subject=HELLOHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_1
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