Anil Oommen MAT ’01 Shares His Passion for Teaching, Learning and Pacific University

T. Anil Oommen MAT ’01 is passionate about equity, learning, teaching, and Pacific University. Oommen, the director of the School of Learning and Teaching at the Eugene Campus, was drawn to Pacific both as a student and faculty member because the university’s values mirrored his own.

“I appreciate the vision, mission and values that ground us in creative explorations of what it means to be engaged in our communities and the world,” Oommen said. I also love that we are rooted in a  commitment to social justice and cultivating learning communities.”

At Pacific, Oommen continues to bring that commitment to social justice and his own immigrant experience to classrooms, where he explores diversity, equity and inclusion with future educators. He teaches classes in the Bachelor of Education and Master of Arts in Teaching programs.

“Our programs connect students with faculty and staff that care about individual student success,” he said. “We have always thrived on the relationships that are cultivated in our classrooms and on our three campuses. We know how to do this well both in person and online.”

Oommen also serves as the professional development school liaison and the program coordinator for the Bachelor of Education in Teaching and English Language Learning program and is a member of the Eugene Campus’s Diversity Committee.

Prior to joining Pacific, he taught arts integrated curriculum in elementary schools for 12 years in Eugene, Ore., where he also works with K-12 public schools to implement comprehensive sexuality education.

In his spare time, Oomen enjoys reading non-fiction, novels and poetry. His favorite authors are Toni Morrison, Arundhati Roy and James Baldwin. Some of his favorite poets include, Li-Young Lee, Kamal Das, Gabriela Mistral and William Stafford.