Theatrical Tension Keeps Engle Engaged

Last Monday night, Randy Engle got three hours of sleep. 

He wasn’t up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight, tend to a family emergency, or just to see the sunrise. Instead, it was because he knew at 8 a.m. he would be teaching a psychology of learning course — one he has taught dozens of times.

“I still obsess over this course,” said Engle, professor in the School of Psychology. “Professional actors need a certain amount of tension and anxiety to perform. For me, it’s the same with teaching. It makes me prepare like crazy.” 

This excitement, which he likens to being on a roller coaster, is what has kept him teaching, on top of his many other roles in academia, for his entire career. 

“I like 8 a.m. classes because they’re a challenge,” he said. “Freshmen are great because they’re not jaded yet. They still get excited.” 

Engle recently won a Beckman Award, which honors professors for excellence in teaching and mentoring, and for which he was nominated by a former student. He'll be honored in a ceremony on Nov. 15 at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Atlanta. 

In 19 years at Georgia Tech, Engle has served as chair of the School of Psychology, founded the Center for Advanced Brain Imaging, helped establish the Honors Program, and twice overseen buildout for the School’s offices. 

Engle’s research focuses on working memory, or how much information you can maintain at once. On Oct. 30, he’ll give a talk on “What does it mean to be intelligent?” that will focus on biologically based intelligence and how it plays into the ability to resist distractions. 

Though Engle has conducted research in this area for 30 years, he’s had a recent surge in interest from partners including the U.S. Navy, National Security Agency, and Pfizer, all seeking ways to measure or test a person’s working memory and what happens when it is diminished.

“The ability to focus is highly connected to your ability to function in the modern world,” he said.

With a workload that includes teaching, editing the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, holding a visiting professorship at the University of Edinburgh, conducting research, and advising four graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow, Engle still finds his work with students to be some of the most gratifying.

“It demands that you love what you’re doing,” he said.

When he’s not in the classroom, or losing sleep over being in the classroom, he likes to hike or build things, particularly furniture. He first picked up the habit in a high school shop class. When he lived in South Carolina, his farm provided a ready supply of wood. He’s made several of the pieces in his office, including his desk, and is now sharing the hobby with his grandchildren.

“When they visit, I try to have a wood project cut out — to avoid power tools — and we assemble it together,” he said. 

Engle also spends time hiking, and is having a mountain home built in North Georgia. It won’t replace the home he loves in Avondale Estates, though, where he and his wife can partake in nearby neighborhood events and have a room for each grandchild. 

“I like to pick up the grandkids on Friday mornings before school and take them to breakfast,” he said. “They are both amazing conversationalists.”

Leaving his former academic home, the University of South Carolina, for Tech meant leaving the farm behind — initially to live in a Midtown condo — but he’s never regretted it. 

“Coming here was the best professional decision of my life,” he said. “I’ve had great students and great facilities, and have worked for some of the best people of my career.”