About Stephen D. Senturia:
Hello to all. After a 36 year career as a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I am now writing fiction. My first novel, One Man’s Purpose, deals with Martin Quint, himself a Professor at the fictional Cambridge Technology Institute, and is based on my personal experiences as a professor and educator. The sequel, entitled Cross Purposes, came out in early 2019. It follows Martin and his wife Jenny into a new phase of their marriage. The third leg of The Martin Quint Trilogy, entitled Cross Purposes, will be published in 2021.
During my long career, I have written several textbooks, hundreds of scientific papers, quite a few patents, started two companies, co-edited two journals and two books series, and taught, literally, thousands of students. Now I’m writing stories about the high-tech academic life, and I’m having a blast. I also run an occasional blog entitled Education as Conversation, part reminiscence over my career, and part commentary on issues of online education. And, with four colleagues, I lead workshops on The Academic Life, providing guidance for those seeking careers in high-tech academia.
In addition to my writing and blogging, I am a clarinetist, performing chamber music from time to time. My wife Peg and I are active in the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, a group of 550 retirees who teach 12-week seminar classes to each other, as well as the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Tufts University. My most recent seminars have been about fiction: one on William Faulkner and one entitled “Fictional Terrorists,” looking at three modern novels in which terrorism is thematic.
We live in Lexington, MA, have three wonderful children and seven equally wonderful grandchildren.
About One Man’s Purpose:
Life in the Academic Fast Lane
Martin Quint, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cambridge Technology Institute, is at the top of his professional career. Beloved as a teacher and internationally lionized as a researcher, he enthusiastically embraces his academic overload. But with a baby on the way and a critical tenure case for a junior female colleague hanging by a thread, life throws more at Martin than he can juggle.
About Cross Purposes – A Martin Quint Novel
A Marriage at Cross Purposes
Martin Quint and his wife Jenny have moved to a small college, where Martin hopes to write his ground-breaking book on the role of live conversation in education. This lofty goal is repeatedly challenged, not least by a shocking revelation from Martin’s past that threatens to careen everything out of control. This novel provides an eye-opening look into the academic life, but at its heart, it’s about a marriage at cross purposes, about trust and betrayal, anger and forgiveness.
