TCNJ

18 The College of New Jersey Magazine "I'm explicit about saying, 'WE'RE FRiENDS FOR LiFE, SO REACH OUT ANYTiME,'" Pollock says. John Pollock and his wife, Peggy Mandell, at their 2023 wedding. before you," says Longo, associate director of advocacy and communication at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "And then the next generation comes, and they hear about you. He always wanted to push his students — it sounds cliché to say — to reach their top potential. But it's absolutely true of him." Two years ago, Longo was one of a dozen former students who attended what she thought was Pollock's 80th birthday party but turned out to be his surprise wedding to writer Margaret "Peggy" Mandell. "I never wanted to retire 'from,' just for the sake of retiring: I wanted to retire 'to' something," he says. "Now, life with Peggy is absolutely glorious. Now, I have something to retire 'to.'" In the meantime, Pollock is ready for his last semesters. As always, his door will be open. Some students might discover a mentor who sends them down a new path. Others may find inspiration and role models in his stories about the graduate school acceptances, published papers, and conference triumphs of the scholars who've preceded them. Pollock's message to the students just starting out is simple but powerful: "They were students just like you, in this very same class," he says. "These aren't magical people with magical powers. And look what they've been able to do." ■ Liz Leyden is a frequent contributor to TCNJ Magazine. For this story, she says, "I've never had so many people reaching out to me to talk about a subject. I couldn't fit them all in." Peter Murphy specializes in portraiture work. His photos have appeared in Wired, The Atlantic, and GQ. presenting her paper from Pollock's class about health conditions in Guantanamo Bay inspired her to instead pursue a master's degree in public health. "It was a total turning point," says Zinck Chado, program manager at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. "I felt like I wasn't just a college kid going to class. It was the first time I felt like I could really see a career path." She wasn't alone. Pollock's high expectations and attention helped set scores of students on postgraduate paths they hadn't imagined possible. When Ichiro Kawasaki '08 began Pollock's introductory public relations course, he was a junior in a quiet panic about a future he couldn't quite picture. But the work he did in class sparked an interest Kawasaki hadn't felt in other subjects. Pollock encouraged him to consider a communications career, connecting him to an internship at a local PR firm and later helping him apply to graduate schools. That step-by- step support launched a career that rocketed Kawasaki to the top of a Big Four accounting firm. "When I think about people who have impacted me the most in terms of my professional life, it would really start with him," says Kawasaki, now senior director for public relations at KPMG. "He saw something in me that no one else did. And if he hadn't seen it, I don't know where I'd be today." As much as Pollock's name remains top of mind for alumni like Kawasaki, their stories and successes have also helped Pollock inspire new generations of students. Soon after Lauren Longo '15 arrived in Pollock's class her sophomore year, she began to hear about "The Great Tom Hipper" and his legendary presentation at the Kentucky Health Communication Conference. "Dr. Pollock loves to talk about the students who came MARLENA ELIZABETH PHOTOGRAPHY

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