John Rogers is a professor of education at UCLA and the founder of the university’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. Before participating on a panel about why Californians don’t talk about politics, he answered questions in our Green Room.
Q. Who was your childhood role model?
A. First name that comes to mind is Willie Mays.
Q. What food do you eat most often?
A. Bananas.
Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. I had a happy childhood, but I’m having a hard time coming up with one memory.
Q. What do you do to exercise?
A. I run in the mountains, the Santa Monica Mountains.
Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A. I’m pretty happy with where I live. I love Los Angeles.
Q. Who has had the greatest effect on your career?
A. Jeannie Oaks, someone who I worked with for several years and with whom I founded the center that we now direct together. She taught me a lot.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure?
A. Peet’s coffee with lots of cream.
Q. How are you different than you were 10 years ago?
A. I think I have more confidence in my ability to lead organizations.
Q. What is your favorite movie?
A. Field of Dreams.
Q. What are you afraid of?
A. I’m afraid of working really hard and not seeing the sorts of changes that I would like to see happen here in Los Angeles and in the United States.
Q. How often do you Google yourself?
A. Probably once a week.
Read more about the panel in which Rogers participated.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.