HAIRY MAINE: What's your professional title?
BRUCE ROBERTS: Professor of Economics
How long have you been teaching overall? at USM?
Since 1995 at USM. For sixteen years before that I was on the faculty in economics at William & Mary. I got tired of Virginia, and my wife (Susan Feiner, also a USM professor) and I were happy to take advantage of the offer to come back to New England at USM.
What are some accomplishments that you are proud of?
I've taught thousands of students over the years. Many quite memorable and successful people. Some tell me that they actually learned some things that stick with them. I think I've written some articles on the nature of different varieties of economic theory that have had an effect on how others think about the field.
So now about the beard. How long have you had your beard, in year terms?
Since spring of 1971, when, after college, I put down the razor and thought "enough of this -- never again." Didn't like shaving at all. Plus, of course, if you were youngish in 1971, having a beard was ... not so unusual. It's been a while (neither my wife nor my children have ever seen me without a beard, which makes for some interesting conversations at times).
How often do you trim or re-shape your beard?
Reshape? Basically never. But trim --two or three times a week, I guess.
Do you wear different styles of beards or do you generally keep it the same?
Same shape (which is the shape of my face, basically). Never seriously thought about the ZZTop or Santa Claus or Satanic goatee or... any other style.
Do you ever wish to rid of the huge bunch of hair on your face?
Nahhh. It gives me something to stroke, pensively, while looking and feeling thoughtful. Plus, again, the thought of daily razoring is enough to make any other options fade away fast!
Do you find that there is a stereotype associated with the beard?
Walking around as a faculty member at a college, and seeing all the other graying male baby-boomers with briefcases and whiskery chins... yeah, sure. In retrospect, I suspect that being a member of my generation with an urge to do something thoughtful and worthwhile but no great desire to be in a regular 9-to-5 environment, I grew the beard before I figured out that I wanted to be an academic. Later on, I realized all the benefits of being an academic worker, in a job setting where no-one much cares how whiskery you are as long as you do what you do well -- you don't get rich doing this, but as a (tenured!) professor, I don't know another job that's as close to being self-employed while still earning a paycheck. So ... yeah, there are a lot of professors with beards. Makes sense to me.
Do you notice many college students on campus with beards?
I do. Seems like somewhat less than the campuses I remember from the 60s and 70s, but yes (definitely more beards here than in the off-campus world!).
What does your beard mean to you?
Less profit for Gillette. Plus I get to feel virtuous by resisting the urgings of the "Just for Men" commercials.
Finally, because I have to, do you see the USM campus as having a beard surplus or a beard deficit?
As an economist, I've been trained to look for equilibrium....
There you have it, my first facial Feature!
Please get ahold of me if you'd like yourself or a friend featured.
Thanks!
Sarena
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