Britt Bardman
Staff Writer
Kent Drummond’s path to becoming an english and honors professor at the University of Wyoming is a winding one, rich with interesting experiences resulting in diverse knowledge that earned him multiple teaching honors, including the John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, the Beatrice Gallatin Beuf Golden Apple Award, A&S Top Ten Teacher and the College of Business Senior Teaching Award.
“It’s about the students, my relationships with students and the chance to meet them where they are in their lives and take them to the next level,” said Drummond.
Drummond grew up in a small town in Ohio. He said that it is a lot like Laramie-it was very safe and somewhat isolated. A lot of people never left. Drummond said he felt like it was easy to be misunderstood since there were many expectations in the community, but he knew he would get out.
After high school in Ohio, Drummond went to Stanford for his undergraduate degree, Northwestern University for his Master of Business Administration (MBA), and University of Texas-Austin for his doctorate in communications. Each school was something different.
Although being an English professor was his dream, he got his MBA at Northwestern because the job market was drying up for English professors in the ‘70s, so there were not as many opportunities.
Drummond said earning his doctorate after his time at Northwestern opened his eyes to marketing.
“Marketing is like a drama or a play. There are performers, a stage, and a script- just translated into a product. At first I resisted that idea, [but] then I drank the Kool-Aid,” said Drummond.
After receiving his doctorate in communications, then working in corporations for five years, Drummond was finally able to return his dream of being on campus where he could motivate and inspire students, while doing some research.
Drummond began teaching at UW 30 years ago in the College of Business as a marketing professor. Recently, Drummond switched to the english department.
“Being in the english department is a dream come true. I’ve loved all my experiences here at UW, but I’ve saved the best for last,” Drummond said.
His research in interpretive consumer research seeks to understand how consumers make sense of their world through products. His last book, “The Road to Wicked: Marketing and Consuming Oz: From Baum to Broadway,” was inspired by his fascination with the children’s story, movie and broadway show and how successful they became, despite the long period of time in between them.
Now, Drummond said he is fascinated by the Beatles.
“They haven’t existed for more than 50 years, but when something new comes out, it goes to the top. What do they give us that no one else does?”
He is interested in the source of their power, and said it is probably what his next book will be about.
Drummond experienced some condescension and false assumptions about being raised on a farm, but he said that what saved him was finding english as a major, falling in love with his classes and professors. To him, they were performers.
From the time he was a teenager, he wanted to be a professor. His passion for teaching English and getting to know his students during the process is clear.
Drummond lives in Laramie with his wife and cat Luke, who he said only loves him. His favorite spots in Laramie are Altitude (he speaks highly of their street tacos) and Cask 307, the tapas and wine bar downtown across from Coal Creek.
