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September 16, 2024 | By Jennifer Levin

St. John鈥檚 Santa Fe is turning 60! To celebrate, we鈥檒l be looking back at key figures, moments, and movements from the campus鈥檚 past, all of which have proved instrumental in transforming the foothills of Monte Sol into a beloved home for generations of Johnnies. We chatted with Pioneer Class graduate Paul Eitner (SF71) while taking a trip down memory lane鈥�one that was followed shortly after by a literal return to Eitner鈥檚 college days when he attended September 2024鈥檚 in-person Homecoming festivities.

After completing the St. John鈥檚 Program, Paul Eitner 听left Santa Fe for graduate school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, thinking he鈥檇 become a mathematics professor. He ended up discovering a love for computer programming, which led him to working in satellite communications for companies like Lockheed Martin, General Electric, and the small consulting firm Arcfield. 鈥淚 retired in 2013 and was hired back around 2020, so I鈥檓 working 24 hours a week, doing the same thing I was doing for 20 years before I retired,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to tackle the harder problems.鈥�

Eitner today lives in Audubon, Pennsylvania, but he remains strongly connected to his alma mater鈥攁nd to Santa Fe. He has served on the board of Santa Fe Botanical Garden, where he established and partially funds an internship for St. John鈥檚 students, and he visits frequently for Summer Classics and Science Institute seminars.

How did you go from wanting to be an academic mathematician to working in the defense industry?
I completed a master鈥檚 degree in mathematics and was working on a dissertation at the University of Michigan, but my full-time work as a computer programmer was more compelling. While working, I earned a master鈥檚 in systems engineering and one in telecommunications engineering. About 12 years of post-graduate education leads me to where I鈥檓 73 years old, and they still want me to work.

What led you to create an internship for students at the Botanical Garden?听
One of the most important things about my time at St. John鈥檚 in Santa Fe was that we were surrounded by nature. But we were very isolated from the world during Vietnam. We really didn鈥檛 know what was happening on other campuses, or what we should do after graduation. The college exists in a broader world, and it鈥檚 important to pay some attention to that. I saw that the college was doing more to support students to connect in the world, funding classes at traditional universities for student who want to go to graduate school and coordinating internships. I鈥檝e volunteered at the Botanical Garden doing everything from weeding to giving tours to working the cash register. So that was the purpose of the internship鈥攖o get people to put down their books for a bit, and get out there and learn about the world we all live in.

How did you first learn about St. John鈥檚?
I was what they used to call an underachiever when I was in high school. I was distracted in the classroom, getting D鈥檚, but I had spectacular test scores, and I was a National Merit Scholar finalist. My guidance counselor asked if I鈥檇 heard of St. John鈥檚. I came for a visit and liked what I saw.

Were you happy here?
I was thrilled. I remember one night, I walked up Monte Sol and found a nice rock where I could sit and look out over the valley. It felt right. Like Siddhartha by the water. I loved my years at the college鈥攎y classes, the bonds with students and faculty.

Do any tutors stand out in your mind?
Dr. Bob Neidorf and Dr. Roger Peterson were role models for me. I was a lab assistant for Dr. Neidorf; he promoted me to senior lab assistant in my senior year, so I had a lot of responsibility. For a long time, they had his picture in the big commons room that adjoins the Great Hall. I鈥檇 go watch speakers there [in the years since graduation], and over the speaker鈥檚 shoulder was a picture of Bob Neidorf, looking back at me. That was probably a more profound experience for me than it was for other people, because he and I had been fairly close.

What have you carried with you from St. John鈥檚?
I would say the physics lab experience was the most formative thing, because it was clear that I was headed in a scientific direction. But the school exposes you to so much鈥攊t鈥檚 not hard to find something that you feel passionate about. I enjoyed [Fran莽ois] Rabelais. I enjoyed Plato; I think everybody does. Roger Peterson鈥檚 biology tutorial got me thinking about nature as more than experiencing the beauty; it helped make me an environmentalist. And Linda Weiner did a Summer Classics course on a book called In Praise of Plants [by Francis Halle]. I loved that. They were both biologists. The depth of understanding I got from them was delightful.

Did you participate in or start any campus traditions while you were here?听

Well, the spring of my freshman year, 1968, there was a sit-in to pressure the administration to allow more 鈥渋nter-visitation鈥� between the dorms. Men鈥檚 dorms were at the top of the hill and the women鈥檚 dorms were at the bottom, and you could only mingle in the common rooms. The press came to the sit-in, and the administration was upset but they negotiated. As I remember, they opened the dorms between eight in the morning and midnight for inter-visitation.

And I鈥檓 not sure this answers your question, but I remember Istvan Fehervary, the activities director. He was an interesting figure, a Hungarian refugee who was able to gather groups of students around him and make good things happen. He helped start the college鈥檚 search and rescue team, and he thought St. John鈥檚 should have a running track. I was in a crew that built a quarter-mile oval in that big grassy area before the tennis courts. We built that the summer of 1970, the summer after my junior year. There was this wonderful sense of being part of a community and doing things of real worth together.