Academic Adoration: Professor Couples at Loyola

When Dr. Jennifer Parks met Dr. David Ingram in 1997 on her first day in Loyola’s philosophy department, she thought he was a graduate student. 

Ingram, who said he was dressed in a denim jacket, sneakers and a baseball cap, walked into his fellow philosophy professor’s office to introduce himself. 

“The day she arrived, I walked into her office and it was kind of love at first sight,” Ingram said.

Parks said after learning he was also faculty, their instantaneous connection was mutual, resulting in a three-hour conversation in the doorway of her office. The next day, Parks said Ingram invited her to a concert in Grant Park under the pretense of a faculty outing. 

“It turned out that there was no group — it was just him,” Parks said, laughing. “So that was sort of our first date. It was fun.” 

While on a trip to California less than a year after their first meeting, Ingram pulled off the side of Pacific Coast Highway on a bridge overlooking Big Sur to ask the much-anticipated question. 

“With this beautiful sunset and everything and he said, ‘Jennifer Parks will you marry me?’” Parks said. “And I said ‘Get up, everybody’s looking.’” 

After her initially surprised reaction, Parks said yes. They were married in December 1998 and said they have since co-taught classes and co-authored a book.

Parks and Ingram aren’t the only professors who have cultivated love through academic pursuits. Dr. Dianne Rothleder, who began teaching in Loyola’s honors program in 2013, and Dr. Andrew Cutrofello, who became a philosophy professor at Loyola in 1994, met at Brandeis University in 1983 and said their relationship has informed their distinct academic careers. 

“He is my own personal research assistant,” Rothleder wrote of Cutrofello in an email to The Phoenix. “Whenever I need a reference, he seems to know it, he finds books for me, I bounce ideas off of him. He is likely my best reader.” 

Cutrofello said the couple’s favorite date is going to bookstores. He said he attributes both his and Rothleder’s academic interest in Shakespeare to their family tradition of going to see Shakespeare plays at Barat College in Lake Forest with their kids. Their daughter especially loved seeing the plays, according to Cutrofello.  

Although Rothleder’s background is in political theory and Cutrofello’s in continental philosophy, the Shakespeare performances inspired them to incorporate Shakespearer into their academic work. 

“You know, you hear the same play over and over again — it just gets in your head, you’re thinking about it — and so Dianne and I both kind of ended up writing about Shakespeare in different ways,” Cutrofello said. 

While Cutrofello and Rothleder’s careers have been shaped by their life together, professors Randy Minkoff and Sue Castorino in the School of Communication found their relationship through their respective careers.

Minkoff and Castorino met in 1981 while working at WBBM news radio where Minkoff began as a sports producer while Castorino was a sports broadcaster. Bonding over their mutual love for athletics, Castorino said she knew he was “the one” at the Super Bowl XVI in 1982 after she decided to fly out to Pontiac, Michigan and surprise him while he was reporting on the event.

Minkoff said he proposed to her the same year, calling her via payphone while on his way to cover the 1983 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Evansville, Indiana. 

“It was five minutes before I was ready to go on the air,” Castorino said. “I remember it was 1:55 in the afternoon, I have five minutes, and he called from a payphone and he said, ‘I’m not hanging up until you say yes.’” 

Married in 1983, the partners have worked together in a variety of ways — from co-teaching classes at Loyola to running The Speaking Specialists, a sports media training company. Minkoff and Castorino recalled the adventures they’ve had together, including eating fire in the Bahamas and traveling to San Francisco for their honeymoon — despite Minkoff’s fear of flying. 

“We trained the Olympic teams, we trained pro college teams, we had to travel all over the country,” Minkoff said, referencing the pair’s business. “So it meant she had to get me on a plane — and if I didn’t love her as much as I do that might not have happened.” 

History professor Dr. Noah Sobe and philosophy professor Dr. Amy Shuffelton also feel their relationship has been largely cultivated by their shared experiences.

“I think we both have a certain spirit of adventure,” Shuffelton said.

The couple said they met as summer camp counselors in New Hampshire at a camp which taught kids how to build a miniature society. After finishing undergraduate early ‘90s, they decided to implement the summer camp as an after school program in Kraków, Poland, a country they said was in the midst of rebuilding its societal structures. 

Sobe said since their adventures in Poland, they continued to grow as they focused on their academic careers. 

“You never step in the same river twice,” Sobe said. “You’re a changing person, your relationship changes and, you know, we’ve had amazing opportunities to do so many things together and change and grow together.”

Dr. Hank Bohanon and Dr. Meng-Jia Wu in the Department of Education, who met at Loyola in 2006, said Shuffelton and Sobe helped them acclimate to life as a couple in an academic space. 

“They invited us over and tried to share their experiences as a couple and how to manage life with a baby,” Wu said. “They also gave us a bottle their kids used to use and some clothes — hand-me-down kinds of things to support us. So we are very grateful.” 

The couple said they got to know each other while working late on research projects. Eventually, they bonded over their love of choral music and had their first date at a concert in Grant Park, according to Bohanon. They said although they didn’t hide their relationship, none of their colleagues realized they were dating until they got married after two years in 2008. 

Although not everyone knew, Wu and Bohanon recalled the department chair asking questions after Bohanon snuck lilies into Wu’s office for Easter. Laughing at the memory, Wu said although Bohanon’s gesture was thoughtful, he was unaware lilies were a symbol of death in Wu’s native Taiwanese culture. 

“I wasn’t intending to say anything about death,” said Bohanon, laughing. “But turns out I did.” 

The couple said they have made fond memories within their academic setting, attributing much of their happiness together to Loyola. 

“Loyola’s been very good to us,” Bohanon said. “It brought us together.”

Featured image taken by Hanna Houser.