Toby King Made His Own Path—From Geology To Bluegrass To Academia

When I think of people who’ve allowed life’s serendipities to shape their course, Toby King comes immediately to mind. In this episode, he walks me through a zigzagging journey that began with a keg behind the geology building before his freshman year at Amherst College even started and took him to UNC Asheville, where he's Associate Professor and Chair of Music and, starting this fall, the chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly. Toby’s story is a reminder that we don’t always have to know where we’re going—as long as we stay open to what moves us. Highlights include: How Toby chose geology at Amherst after bonding with faculty during a pre-orientation outing—and a well-timed beer Why he walked away from a geology career after a frank conversation with a mentor during an oil company internship Why he taught himself how to play the banjo, and how he leveraged his passion for music into a spot at Columbia's graduate program and a teaching role at Sarah Lawrence The importance of prioritizing connections over content in teaching, and how the Amherst College geology department has influenced his approach to at UNC Asheville The Amherst College classmates he wants me to interview next To get in touch with Toby, check out his page on the UNC Asheville website: https://www.unca.edu/person/jonathan-king/.