Now that the giant mountains of snow are melting, Professor William Horner is preparing for the warmer weather, blooming spring flowers and the annual Relay for Life. After he and his wife both battled cancer, Horner’s involvement with the fundraiser has evolved from a the role of a participant to that of an adviser. And being co-faculty advisers with his wife is not the only extracurricular on this educator’s resumé. From writing books to being a dad, Professor Horner tells Her Campus Mizzou how the life of a professor is more than daily lectures and grading papers.
Her Campus Mizzou: Why did you decide to teach political science?
Professor William Horner: Even as a kid, I was always interested in politics. I majored in Radio/Television/Film as an undergraduate at Northwestern University and became interested in political science through a media and politics class. Things went from there – first a Master’s degree at Arizona State and then a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin.
HCM: How did you know that you wanted to teach?
WH: This is also something I’ve always enjoyed (or at least, for so long now that it feels like forever). I became certified to teach high school in college and then decided to go to graduate school and take the university teaching route.
HCM: What’s the most rewarding part about being a professor?
WH: When students are interested in the material and forget that they’re taking PS1100 because the university requires them to!
HCM: How did you end up at Mizzou after graduating from UT?
WH: My wife, Dr. Heather Carver, whom I met as an undergraduate at Northwestern, is from Missouri. She and I both went through graduate school at UT together although in different fields of study. She is a theater professor here at Mizzou. Before Mizzou, we taught for a year at a small school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called Lake Superior State University. A great job in theater opened up at Mizzou, and she applied for it and got it. I was extremely lucky that there was an opportunity for me in the political science department, where I started as a visiting professor.
HCM: What’s your favorite thing about Mizzou?
WH: I like a lot about Mizzou. If I have to narrow it to one thing, I will say that it’s the students here and the chance I get to work with them every day. The amazing students who work so hard putting together Relay for Life every year are great examples of the fabulous students we have on this campus.
HCM: Tell us a little more about Relay for Life.
WH: Relay for Life is a nationwide fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. There are several thousand Relay events held around the country each year. Mizzou’s Relay typically takes place in late March. Last year, more than 140 teams participated in the Mizzou Relay and well over $100,000 was raised.
HCM: What drew you to your involvement with Relay for Life?
WH: My wife and I have both had cancer. I had testicular cancer while I was in graduate school, and my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago. A former student of mine, Melissa Horn, who is also a cancer survivor, was on the Relay committee at the time my wife was diagnosed, and she was the one who first got us involved. Initially, it was just as participants in the festivities that celebrate survivors at Relay, and since then we’ve had a team every year. We are the co-faculty advisers for the event.
HCM: What are the goals of Relay for Life?
WH: Raising money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. With that money, the ACS promotes cancer research, promotes cancer prevention and awareness, and works to lobby for legislation that aids research and prevention/awareness. Scientists, doctors, activists and all of us get better every day in diagnosing, fighting and surviving cancer. Relay for Life is one way of helping to advance that agenda.
HCM: You’re also an author. What was it like writing your first book, Showdown in the Show-Me State?
WH: That book was a lot of fun to write because it is about an issue I’ve long been interested in – state politics, media coverage of politics and gun control. Missouri politics are fascinating. This is a great state to live in and do what I do for a living!
HCM: How was writing your second book different from the first?
WH: My second book was about a political player from the 1890s named Mark Hanna. He was an adviser to William McKinley and helped to get him elected president. Hanna is often compared in the news media to Karl Rove, which is what made me interested in learning more about Hanna. This book is also a media study because in studying Hanna, I learned how he was mischaracterized in 1896, and that reputation has stuck with him ever since. It’s called Ohio’s Kingmaker: Mark Hanna, Man and Myth, and it was published last year. At the moment, I’m working on a book about satirical television shows and politics. That started with my interest in the 1976 presidential campaign and the first season of Saturday Night Live. This one’s a lot of fun to work on, too!
HCM: Looking back on your journey so far, what have been some of your most fulfilling moments?
WH: Well, I’m not sure if you mean personally, professionally, or both, so I’ll give you both:
Professionally, I really enjoy working with students – both undergraduates and the graduate students who work with me as teaching assistants. I like interacting with people who are increasingly (shockingly!) younger than me. There’s an old teachers’ joke that goes something like this: The students are younger and younger, but I haven’t changed a bit. To be a little cliché about this, it keeps me feeling younger than I actually am (I am 42, by the way). I enjoy interactions with students in the classroom and in extracurricular activities like Relay for Life and the Political Science organizations [that] I also advise. Those are the Political Science Club and the Political Science honors organization, Pi Sigma Alpha.
Personally, the most fulfilling things are the partnership I have with my wife – doing things like supporting each other through grad school, in our careers as professors, when facing things like cancer and raising our two daughters, Tricia, 10, and Ellie, 8. Those girls are two amazing young people, and my wife and I look at each other frequently and say, “Wow, look what we made!”
HCM: As a university professor and published author, what other goals do you want to achieve in your field?
WH: Well, those are pretty good things, so I don’t know what to say to this one except that I hope to continue to get better at doing both of them!