Kristina Bigsby, the Tippie professor who never stopped being a student.
Data driven. Driven to teach.
Kristina Bigsby arrived at the University of Iowa years ago as a bright-faced freshman. An aspiring music and English major who was convinced she would write the great American novel or play tuba player for the Chicago Symphony.
Fast forward to today…
Kristina is Tippie’s Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of Instruction in Business Analytics, with a PhD in Informatics.
As she talks about the winding path from then to now, she mentions her work as a librarian in rural Iowa, her master’s degree in library science, and a serendipitous class with a teacher who recognized Kristina’s knack for data.
“I was a big nerd who wanted to learn. Data was exciting, is exciting. Data is anything and everything. Data expresses the diversity of the world around us. Data captures the things that excite my students, whether it’s movies or music or sports.”
Embracing the struggle
Kristina’s passion for data is evident, as is her calling to be a lifelong learner.
“To go into analytics or any business discipline it’s important to continue learning because everything changes so quickly. I push myself to learn new things all the time. That also helps me remember what it's like to be a student and to struggle the same way students struggle.”
That endeavor to constantly learn is where Kristina’s two lives – first as a student and now as a teacher – intersect.
“I think back to being an English major and, while I don't necessarily use that today in my job, I still read a lot of Shakespeare. And being a music major exposed me to so many ideas and works of art I would never have seen or heard otherwise. That enriches my life. I hope my students feel that way about my classes at Tippie. That wherever life takes them, they've been enriched by what they’ve learned.”
Kristina’s path has been unique, but it’s also given her a special perspective. One that fuels her belief that the best thing anyone can do is help young people.
“I really believe in empowering students, in helping them pursue knowledge and excellence, and in encouraging them to use that knowledge to help themselves and the others around them. That's the best thing I can do with my life. I’m here because the students are here. I measure my success by their success. I measure if I'm doing a good job by whether they feel like they're learning. The reason the university exists is to serve students.”
One of a kind
Kristina takes that mission seriously, working tirelessly to keep her class material fresh, confident that her classes are one of a kind.
“Students once told me, ‘We like the way things are taught, but we don't really like the book.’ I knew I could do it better. So now I teach from a book I wrote. I'm very confident my classes don't look like anybody else's, even at other schools that teach the same thing. It's a singular experience for my students.”
And what about her students? Are they data nerds like Kristina…bright, smart, and driven?
“Business students are unique in that most of them have a really good idea about what they want to do. They've got, a five-year plan and a 10-year plan. They're thinking about getting a degree that leads to a career path. They are working so hard. I am so impressed by the students every day and I mean that genuinely. I feel better about the future with every young person I meet at Tippie. I see this intelligence and this caring and curiosity about the world and the students, and that gives me hope.”
Kristina wants to give students the knowledge they need to be successful in their personal and professional lives – “the want to keep learning” for the rest of their lives. She also wants them to know they learned from people who cared about them.
A Hawkeye for life
“I'm a university lifer,” she concludes. “I've been here a long time. I've seen the university from a lot of perspectives. I've seen it from the student side. I've had staff jobs. I’m a faculty member. Hopefully that gives me insight that helps students. I'm extremely privileged that this worked out for me and that I get to inspire them every day at my job.”
Maybe Kristina will still write that novel or pick up the tuba. Maybe not. In the meantime, her students are lucky to have her, the once bright-faced freshman who followed a calling to teach.