Office of the Assistant Dean, Santa Fe

Assistant Dean: Mr. Edward Walpin, 505-984-6925
asstdean@sjcsf.edu

Director of Residential Life: Mr. Matt Johnston, 505-984-6087
housing@sjcsf.edu

"At St. John’s, you can’t major in what you’re good at—you have to do everything. That will push you out of your comfort zone, and then your comfort zone will expand."

- Assistant Dean Ned Walpin

One of the main reasons Ned Walpin, the assistant dean of students, wanted to teach at St. John’s was because he wanted to study a variety of things without being constrained by the norms of specialization. He majored in political science at Middlebury College and then went on to earn a MA and PhD in political philosophy from Duke University, as well as an MA in English from Middlebury College’s Breadloaf School of English. His dissertation was on Nietzsche. “I’d become interested in literary philosophic questions, questions about aesthetics and form and what kind of insights you can gain from them, rather than simply through logical deductions. Nietzsche is very powerful in that because he does not write like a systematic philosopher,” he explained.

Before he came to St. John’s in 1999, Mr. Walpin was an exchange fellow and instructor at the Institut für Politische Wissenschaft, Friedrick-Alexander Universität, in Erlangen, Germany; fellow, instructor, and project coordinator in the Kenan Ethics Program at Duke University; and a consultant for PBS Frontline. Though he finds having to choose unpleasant, he cites The Machine in the Garden, by Leo Marx, and War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, as among his favorite books. “I don’t really think this way,” he said. “Whatever I’m with at the moment becomes the thing that totally animates me.”

Mr. Walpin, who played Jazz drums and is learning to play Jazz piano, grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. He is the middle of three children, in between two sisters. He and his wife, Cynthia, who has taught college-level political science and worked as an accountant, have a seven-year-old daughter. As the assistant dean, Mr. Waplin deals with all kinds of academic issues and oversees residential life and disciplinary issues, student activities, campus security, dining services, and all other aspects of the student experience. He is especially sympathetic to students who take some time adjusting to the math and science portion of the Program, as well as students who need guidance in how to work collaboratively rather than competitively to have the right answer. Prior to coming to St. John’s, where Mr. Walpin’s eyes were opened to the beauty of mathematical thought, he was entirely locked up around math. “Now math is my favorite part of the Program. I can do vector calculus,” he said. “The thing is that there’s no student who is simply good at everything. It’s not possible. But at St. John’s, you can’t major in what you’re good at—you have to do everything. That will push you out of your comfort zone, and then you’re comfort zone will expand. I see students develop bravery from that, a confidence that is beautiful to watch. They learn openness to the world and to use their minds in a way that is deeply creative and thoughtful.”