After two decades of teaching in Eleanor Roosevelt College’s Making of the Modern World program, professor Edmond Chang is retiring from UC San Diego after this quarter. With his departure, the iconic professor leaves behind a career defined not by lectures, but by the relationships he built with thousands of students.

“What I try to do is make people feel passionate about learning about different cultures and different perspectives,” Chang said to The UCSD Guardian.

Over the course of his career, Chang estimates that he taught between 25,000 and 30,000 students — a number that speaks to his reach, but not to the full extent of his impact.

Chang’s connection to the University began long before he stood at the front of a lecture hall. In 2002, Chang received his Ph.D. in comparative literature from UCSD. During his doctoral studies, he worked as a teaching assistant for the MMW program. 

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. After completing his doctorate, Chang relocated across the country to teach at a private boarding school in Delaware, but he quickly returned to San Diego to be closer to family and reconnect with the MMW program. 

He shared that the interdisciplinary nature of MMW aligned with his passion for teaching a wide range of subjects. 

“What MMW represents really suits who I am,” Chang said. “I don’t see myself being pigeonholed into one area. I love it all.”

That philosophy is central to MMW itself, a program Chang calls one of the most ambitious general education curricula offered at UCSD.

“ERC students complain all the time about how much work it is, and it is pretty demanding,” Chang said. “But it’s also one of the most ambitious GE programs. We don’t just look at things on the surface. We go in depth.”

For Chang, that depth lies in creating something that extends beyond the classroom.

“The value of education shouldn’t be considered in the short term, but in the long term,” he said. “What I hope to do is plant a seed of curiosity.”

This emphasis on curiosity shaped not only his lectures, but also his approach to teaching. When Chang first began working as a professor at UCSD in 2006, he had never taught a large lecture course. The new job stood in stark contrast to the small seminar-style classrooms he was accustomed to.

“I was a nervous wreck,” Chang laughed. “I had never taught 200 or 300 students before.”

Over time, however, he developed a teaching style that sought to recreate the intimacy of smaller classrooms in big lectures. Chang described his role less in terms of numbers and more in terms of mindset.

“I try to learn students’ names, ask where they’re from,” he said. “Students are often surprised that I would remember that.”

Chang extended these relationships outside of the lecture hall. He led students on international trips, including a 2015 course in India following a Buddhist pilgrimage route and a 2024 Global Seminar in Japan. At home in California, he organized annual hikes at Torrey Pines and trips to Yosemite, where students shared poetry and conversations. 

“It really formed a lifetime bond,” Chang said of those memories.

When reflecting on his career, however, Chang points not to a single trip or lecture, but to something simpler.

“I’m most proud of the fact that I always showed up,” Chang said.

In 20 years, Chang missed only two lectures — both times for his children’s high school graduations. A colleague once compared him to Cal Ripken Jr., a former baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles known for his record-breaking streak of appearing in every game played by his team; like Ripken, Chang’s students could always count on him to show up. 

“There are two ways of showing up,” he said. “You can just show up physically, but there’s also showing up for students — being present. I think I’ve done that.”

As he prepares for retirement, Chang has no plans to slow down. He sees this next phase as an opportunity to continue learning, perhaps even returning to UCSD as a student.

“I anticipate being busier in retirement,” Chang mused. “I’m thinking about auditing classes in geology or botany. I spend a lot of time outdoors, but I don’t always understand what I’m seeing.”

He also hopes to return to a long-neglected passion: poetry.

“One of the things that suffered over the past 20 years is that I never had enough time to write,” Chang said. “That’s one of the main reasons I’m retiring now.”

Even as he looks ahead, Chang remains aware of all that he will leave behind. If there is one idea he wants students to carry on after he retires, it is the same one Chang has emphasized in every class he taught.

“Stay curious,” Chang said. “Stay curious about life. Stay curious about the world.”