Sharmila King is the chair of University of the Pacific’s Department of Economics and specializes in monetary and macroeconomics as well as international finance. She been teaching at Pacific for 20 years. We caught up with Professor King for our faculty spotlight.
Q: Where are you originally from?
King: I grew up in England and I am half Indian and half Chinese. I came to the US for grad school (UC Davis PhD).
Q: What brought you to teaching?
King: I discovered my love for teaching when I was working as a tutor while completing my MA Economics. That’s when I realized I need to complete a Ph.D. to teach at the college level. Knowing that I could help others better understand math and economics, how the world works, to help them succeed and make a difference in their lives is so fulfilling and gives my life meaning.
Q: What has been a highlight of your teaching career?
King: I have so many, every time I see how successful our graduates are and the amazing things they go on to do, whether its grad school or starting their career, is so satisfying. I was thrilled to be awarded the Alex and Faye Spanos Award for Distinguished Teaching in Fall 2020. We have so much accomplished, dedicated, and dynamic teachers in the College, to be the recipient of the Award was just absolutely incredible and humbling.
Q: Do you have any hobbies? What do you do in your down time?
King: I love to cook and share food with family and friends, mainly Indian (Punjabi) and Chinese (Cantonese) food, and like many others, I started making sourdough bread during the pandemic. I like to spend time reading in my garden. I am a bit of a WWII buff.