Photo by Jessica Maloney,
UNH Human Resources

Many of us spend much of our lives wondering "what we're going to do when we grow up." A lucky few know from a very early age. Mike Albert is one of those lucky few.

Mike grew up in Dayton, Ohio and can vividly remember the time when everything started to make perfect sense. "I was standing in my backyard, just as the sun was going down" he recalls, "and I found this FM radio station in Cincinnati that played classical music and I just fell in love with it!"

Possessing a strong work ethic ("I've been working since I was 9 when I started as a paperboy," he states), Mike received the comprehensive Wilson Scholarship at The University of The South (Sewanee, Tennessee). After graduating from Sewanee with a BA in Music History and Theory, Mike moved to Houston. In time, he became the personal assistant to Paul Chu, who was the Director of a large University scientific research center. "I learned so much from him," Mike says. "He is one of the major scientific players in the field of superconductivity. We worked together for 11 years. I learned much from him about another culture, which has always been very important to me. I helped him publish over 200 papers of cutting-edge science. I can't even begin to describe what an extraordinary person he was. My friendship with him was one of the highlights of my life." In 1998, while volunteering as the music director of the Men's Chorus, Mike was chosen Volunteer of the Year in Houston for his many years of work with the annual Pride Parade. "That was something I certainly never sought out," Mike remembers. "It required a tremendous amount of time but was also tremendously rewarding. It was all very, very much about community building. I was never one who was in a position to be able to write a huge check to someone, but I could certainly give of my time. It really means something to me to be able to make difference in somebody's life."

When Paul Chu decided to resign his directorship and spend more time in the research lab, Mike saw it as an opportunity to move to New Hampshire in 1999 to live closer to his brother. "It made a certain kind of sense to attempt to transfer the skills acquired from 18 years at the University of Houston to the University of New Hampshire," he states. His current position in the Music Department has allowed Mike to constantly surround himself with musicians, artists and students. "We live and work among them (students)," Mike says. "Their energy and optimism is inspiring. They know that music is my passion. Often they'll come in and talk with me or we speak in the cafeteria about music. They know there's no pressure because I'm not going to grade them! The great thing about working in the music department is that people are playing music all day long. I don't have to leave the building to take a break - I go listen to people practicing and rehearsing music!"

Another passion of Mike's is poetry. He is on the Board of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and also serves as Host of the first-Wednesday Poetry Hoot (now in its fifth year) sponsored by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. "There are 180 members in the Poetry Society", he states. "All my life I've loved listening to people read poetry; it's probably something my mother inculcated in me. People's characters change when they read poetry. It can really be mesmerizing. So many of the readings have immediate impact but also leave you with something to think about later. It's such a fertile culture and so wonderful." He has been an invited reader several times in the past year at the third-Thursday Beat Night at the Press Room (Portsmouth, NH) and either reads poetry or attends between five and ten other poetry events every month. Several of his poems have been recognized in both the National and Members' Contests sponsored by the Poetry Society.

When asked who or what at UNH has had a positive impact on him, Mike's response was "The most positive impact at UNH comes from the 'Bus Club' - the University employees I know from riding to work with them in the morning and back home with them in the evening. I'm always riding with folks who are scattered all over the University, people I'd possibly never get the chance to meet as we're all 'strapped to our desks' at work all day. It puts a human face on everything. We notice when each other are out sick. We take care of each other. We even go out to dinner together ever three or four months. They give a strong sense of continuity to my daily life."