Regina Dominican’s very own science teacher, Mr. Finder, is a well-respected and well-loved teacher. He is also a very interesting person. As an excellent teacher, he is able to captivate the attention of all his students, either through physical examples, engaging lab experiments, or his completely out-of-pocket comments highlighting his many years of networking and connections.

I mean seriously! One time the class was discussing a movie about surrounding space, and Mr. Finder said something like, “Oh, yeah. My best friend from school directed this.”

Mr. Finder attended Highland Park High School, and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, where he majored in electrical engineering and computer science. He is married and has two sons- ages 21 and 31.

In his first career path, he was an engineer and worked in the technology business for many years. While doing so, he invented a few products, with patents on them, for the telephone industry.

The main product that Mr. Finder invented was a service that telephone companies used to test telephone service in the telephone lines. His product was able to figure out if there was a problem in the line, what kind of problem it was, and where to look for the problem- in order to fix it. “It was really thrilling to see my product launched and used by phone companies all over the world. As far as I know, it’s still being used by phone companies.”

After a multitude of years in the field of engineering, he retired and sought a different path. Mr. Finder came out of retirement, to go back to school in order to become a teacher. He originally studied to become a math teacher, however, when he applied for a job, there happened to be an opening for a physics position.

Here are a few questions and answers that evolved during our conversation:

Why did you choose Regina to work at.
“One of my best friends from my previous career worked at Regina. He’s retired now- but that’s how I landed here at Regina.”

Do you have a mentor or someone you idolize?
“For many, many years, I had a boss who was very strict and demanded the best from everyone- including me. He was a perfectionist, and pushed his employees to their limits- but he was fair. I learned a lot from him.”

What were some of your favorite things about your careers?
“For engineering, I loved being able to see my ideas being put into action. For my current job here at Regina, I love being able to, (hopefully), inspire young women to become interested in technology and computer science. There weren’t enough women when I was at MIT.”

What are a couple fun facts about yourself?
“I was one of the first people to use the internet back when I was in college. I’m also actually a big opera fan. My wife and I actually met at the opera. Another fun fact about me is that I was very active in the anti-war protests during the Vietnam War.”

What is your biggest fear?
“Being without purpose or use- which is why I came out of retirement to teach. I love being active.”

What is your favorite movie or book?
“My favorite movie is definitely “The Godfather.” My favorite book is “Catch 22.””

If you could invite 5 people to dinner, who would you invite?
“I think I would invite Albert Einstein, Issac Newton, Shakespeare, Noam Chomsky, and Ada Lovelace.”

What is something that makes you really angry?
“People who lack compassion. Social injustice. Indifference to climate change.”