Professionals Turned Professors

EWU’s College of Professional Programs held its second annual Professor for a Day networking reception on May 12 in Senior Hall. The event featured 20 local professionals — many of whom are Eastern alumni — who drew on their own student and work experiences to provide current Eagles with insights aimed at boosting their post-graduation career prospects.

Alyson Rode, CPP’s graduate and undergraduate services administrator at EWU, said Professor for a Day got its start in 2025 after former dean Osman Özturgut sought to capture the variety of learning experiences available to Eastern students.

“He was very focused on connecting students with working professionals and having them meet before getting into the field,” Rode said of Özturgut. “Having that face-time can make all the difference.

“Whether you’re a freshman in an intro to psych class or a graduating senior, it never hurts to be able to hear from local professionals about how they got to where they are today,” Rode continued, emphasizing that in today’s world connections are more important than ever.

Art Maria is a visiting professional from XG Consulting who serves as a member of the CPP advisory board. A first-generation college student, he said that Eastern was where he found his way, earning a bachelor’s degree in business in 1976. Maria said he hopes to pay forward what his EWU mentors, IT pioneer Grace Hopper, once did for him.

“Hopper talked about working on the first computer, the ENIAC, during World War II,” Maria said. “I just thought, ‘Wow what a career!’ It motivated me to pursue IT, and maybe I can do the same thing here today for another student.”

Another visiting professional, social worker Christina Knudsen, said her hope was to show students the variety of things social-work students they can do post-graduation.

Knudsen runs Santosha Therapy, her own private practice in Spokane. She hopes that the ripple effect of her passion for helping others will now, through programs such as Professor for a Day, reach future Eagles and graduates alike.

“There are just so many directions that a social work degree can go,” Knudsen said.

**The story was written by Rachel Weinberg and the photo was provided by Emma Prophet.