Former Pomona College economics professor Ted Tsukahara, is being honored by his students — now Pomona faculty members — with a fund in his name to support the Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) program.
Tsukahara, who taught at Pomona College from 1968 to 1976, helped lay the groundwork for what would become the PPE program (Metate, 1973).
When former Pomona College economics professor Ted Tsukahara learned that a fund was being created in his name to support the College’s Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program (PPE), he had one question: “Why me?”
To his former students, the answer is simple. His impact, however, is immeasurable.
“He not only taught and advised us as students, he has mentored us for 50 years,” says Eleanor Brown ’75, the James Irvine Professor of Economics and a former PPE program coordinator at Pomona.
During their 50th class reunion last year, Brown and her classmates Gregory Von Gehr ’75 and Paul Hunt, Jr. ’75 paid it forward by establishing the Dr. Theodore Tsukahara, Jr. Fund for Politics, Philosophy and Economics, which will provide wide-ranging support to PPE students and faculty. This year, Tsukahara fans Ruby Kadota ’76 and Marc Vallen ’76 joined in.
Although he spent only eight years at Pomona, Tsukahara is recognized by colleagues and former students for his visionary multidisciplinary approach to teaching and for laying the groundwork for what would become PPE. And his five decades of mentorship exemplify the close faculty-student relationships that define the Pomona experience.
After joining the Pomona faculty in 1968, Tsukahara developed and taught core courses in economics, while weaving in philosophy into his work. As his scholarship evolved, his intellectual interests widened beyond economics, and he began incorporating an increasingly interdisciplinary approach into his teaching.
As a young professor at Pomona, Tsukahara says he saw teaching as his priority. “We were not here to burnish our resumes or become internationally known scholars,” he says. “A professor’s primary obligation is the care of their students.”
That regard for students extended beyond the classroom, as the College became a lived, shared experience for his family, as they lived in one of the faculty residences on campus.
“We ate in the Mudd/Blaisdell dining hall often, and Ted would walk the halls with our two daughters when they were toddlers,” says his wife, Vikki Tsukahara. “Students always got such a kick out of it.”
Tsukahara left Pomona in 1976 to pursue a career outside academia that would encompass finance, strategic planning and investment banking. But Tsukahara ultimately returned to higher education, accepting a position at St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga, Calif., in 1992, where he taught courses ranging from quantitative methods for business to classical political philosophy before retiring in 2022.
“We felt there was something missing in thanking Ted for all he had done for us as students, advising us over all these years,” Brown says. “He made a lasting mark on us and our careers, and we want to ensure that he is celebrated and remembered for his contributions.”
Delivering a liberal arts education that encourages interdisciplinary learning is a key part of Pomona’s Strategic Vision, which focuses on preparing students to address the world’s grand challenges. PPE embodies these values and provides tools and skills for thinking, as the program encourages students to explore their cross-disciplinary curiosities and think critically about societal values, political institutions and economic systems.
“Ted Tsukahara is a true scholar and the embodiment of liberal arts education,” says Brown.
To honor Tsukahara’s impact on Pomona, make a gift to the Dr. Theodore Tsukahara, Jr. Fund for Politics, Philosophy and Economics.