President’s Column for Traill County Tribune
October 19, 2013
Faculty Spotlight – Aaron Kingsbury
We at Mayville State University are blessed with many great colleagues. These faculty and staff members are making an impact at the university, as well as in the community and beyond. From time to time, I feature someone from the faculty or staff so that you can learn a bit more about them. This week I have chosen to feature Dr. Aaron Kingsbury, who recently joined the Mayville State family as a member of the faculty.
Dr. Aaron Kingsbury came on board at Mayville State at the beginning of the fall semester. An assistant professor of geography and political science at Mayville State, he teaches geography classes.
Kingsbury was born and raised in Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in German literature from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in geography from Simon Fraser University in Canada. He also attended the University of Kassel in Germany, where he earned a Master of Science degree in agriculture. His Ph.D. in agricultural geography came from the University of Hawaii.
Dr. Kingsbury has worked for almost all of his adult life, nearly 20 years, in Romania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Canada, and Japan. He has spent the majority of this time as an educator of students of various ages, and as an agricultural researcher.
The quiet and safe atmosphere of the local community attracted Kingsbury to Mayville State. He also likes the fact that Mayville State offers small class sizes.
A runner, Aaron has done a lot of running on farm roads since moving to Mayville late this summer. He says he loves the sunsets and sunrises, and the yummy sweet corn and tasty tomatoes from the farmers market in Hatton.
In his spare time, Kingsbury enjoys endurance sports such as running, cycling, and swimming long distances. He is currently writing a book on the history of grape farming and wine making in Japan. He’s interested in learning to play the accordion. We know there are some accordion players in the community. Here’s an opportunity to share your talents and get to know an interesting member of the Mayville State family.
At “The School of Personal Service,” our people are our greatest asset. We are happy that Aaron has joined us in our endeavor to provide the best possible educational experience for our students. We know that he has a wealth of knowledge to share not only with his students, but with the people of our community. Please join me in welcoming him to Mayville-Portland.