Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/830490
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 51 of how to deal with production situations was extensive. He also understood post-production mixing because his studio, Score One, did voice-over, ADR, and music recording. In fact, the scoring program frequently used his studio for recording assignments with as many as 15 live musicians. Ron was really the one who recom- mended me as a teaching assistant, and that changed my life forever. Ron was also one of the people who wrote a letter of recommendation for me to join the CAS. So, in many ways, this has come full cycle for me. Ron retired in 2000, remarried, moved to Texas and now has a 15-year- old daughter! Rodger Pardee MPSE got his MA from USC in 1981 (and was also a teaching assistant in the sound depart- ment). He came to USC to teach part time in 1988 (where I was his teaching assistant) after working as a sound editor on several Hollywood films, including Rambo III. He continued at USC off-and-on until 1996, while balancing a full professional life as a sound editor and sound effects recordist. In 1998, he taught a class on the other side of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. He eventually accepted a full-time position there and is now a Full Professor. Rodger was an important mentor to me in many ways. His knowledge of sound editing and his years of experi- ence helped fill the gaps in my sound education that Ken and Ron had not really taught. But there was much more to his mentorship than that. Rodger has been a lifelong support system for me, especially when I became a full- time faculty member. He mentored me as an academic as well. I asked Rodger about his opinions on mentorship, and he pointed out that it is always difficult to mentor a large number of students. The students who end up becoming mentees are the ones who seek help outside of classes. I asked about students he had who went on to success, and he mentioned several from LMU. Rodger helped get a stu- dent an unofficial position shadowing re-recording mixer Anna Behlmer. Laura Weist is now a mixer on her own. Rodger is also proud of former student Corey Eccles, Class of 2007, who now teaches in the same program at LMU. Rodger said, "She is doing a really excellent job for us and has taught a variety of sound classes at both the grad and undergrad level. I look to her to help 'carry the torch' to the next generation of audio students." Rodger also quoted an email he had just received from a former student from USC, Dave Grecu, who is both a picture editor and sound editor who now works on Conan: "Even to this day, you have affected my thought processes as a professional, and in a good way!" His former student, Rachel Corrales Simmons, recently won an Emmy as sound editor on Houdini. Rachel was happy to share her mentorship experience about Rodger, and says it much more eloquently than I: "Rodger is very significant to my foundation in sound and storytelling. The motto I have always carried with me throughout my education and career is something he said in my first class as a freshman at LMU. He told us, Dan Nienaltowski, Sally Walsh (both former teaching assistants), and Ken at a USC alumni gathering.