Interview With Jim Biederman

“I’m more introverted than extraverted, so it’s a little ironic that it feels natural to me to be in front of a class of 60 students every day,” says Jim Biederman, a psychology teacher at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC). Biederman has been teaching psychology full-time since 1993, and had never stepped foot in Minnesota before his interview for the psychology job at ARCC 17-years ago.

Biederman has lived in Minneapolis, Minn. For the past 16 years, and has been with his partner for 12 years. He originally grew up in St. Louis area, and moved further north to attend graduate school at Northern Illinois University. As a kid, Biederman enjoyed being outside as much as he could and loved to climb trees and ride his bike. He says his parents also influenced him to be active in the scouts, and his church youth group.

For as long as Biederman has been teaching psychology, he had never even considered teaching until he was in graduate school, where he majored in clinical psychology. His training in graduate school focused on research, training, and clinical skills. After he had finished his Master’s Degree, he had the opportunity to teach his own undergraduate classes. “I still remember walking into class on my first day and feeling very natural standing in front of the class. I was nervous, but it seemed like I knew instinctively what to do,” says Biederman.

During his first semester of college he took a general psychology class and knew then that he loved psychology, but didn’t declare it his major until his junior year of college. He completed his MA in clinical psychology, and also completed all of the requirements for his PhD except for his dissertation. “It would be nice to have completed my PhD since I did almost all of the work, but I tend not to dwell on the past with regrets,” said Biederman. Biederman says his favorite part of psychology is studying the brain. He thinks psychologists are figuring out the first 5% of how the brain really works.

The first 17 years of teaching at the college level have “quickly gone by,” says Biederman. 10 years from now he plans to still be teaching at ARCC, but hopes to have a bigger office by then. He would like to have more courses offered to teach, though even if they don’t, doesn’t expect to ever get bored of the material he teaches now. “That’s one of the nicest things about my job,” He says. “There aren’t many things a person can do for 25 years or more and never get bored.” Once the toll of teaching takes over and it’s time to retire, he says that after 30-plus winters, he’d be more than ready to move to a warmer climate.