For Dr. Cornelius Kerwin, running AU is a family affair.
Kerwin met his wife Ann — who graduated with an art history major in 1971 — in the spring of their junior year, and married her about a year after graduation. Their elder son Michael, a 2005 graduate, met his wife, Kara, here as well.
As AU's first alumnus president, Kerwin chose this university and his major — political science — because of his father's one-year term as a Connecticut state senator.
"I was interested in politics very early in my life because of my father," Kerwin said.
Despite his love of politics, Kerwin never wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and run for office.
Kerwin came to AU in the 1960s to study the social and political change going on in the nation's capital — opportunities which would not have been available to him in Connecticut.
Kerwin is well known for his love of basketball, on display every year at the annual "Shootout: Battle of the Presidents" with the Student Government president. Kerwin lost for the first time last year to former-SG President Andy MacCracken.
But when he was a student here, Kerwin tried out for the Eagle basketball team. He didn't make it.
"In retrospect, I didn't have the talent to be competitive at the college level," he said. "I have to grudgingly admit that the coach made the right decision."
Kerwin attended AU through a series of loans, and he worked several jobs on campus while a student here. He spent time working in the microbiology lab, as well as in the first beer hall on campus.
After having to take out loans for school, Kerwin makes it one of his yearly goals to raise additional funds for student scholarships.
"I have a pretty good sense of the challenges that a lot of students face financially," Kerwin said.
Although Kerwin spent his college summers playing sandlot ball and working at a factory in Connecticut, these days he spends his summers traveling and planning for the coming year.
"This is a 12-month institution," he said, adding that he puts in the same hours year-round.
He starts his day between 6 and 6:30 a.m., works out every other day, sends and reads scores of e-mails and attends countless meetings, both on and off AU's campus.
Kerwin has worked at AU for the past 35 years — he started in 1975 as a faculty member in the School of Public Affair's Department of Public Administration and has been at the University ever since. Including his years as an undergrad, Kerwin has been at AU for a total of nearly 40 years.
But for Kerwin, nothing is more rewarding than his work here.
"I've always loved what I do."
sdazio@theeagleonlinle.com
