Brief Bio:  Dr. Rudy Pearson, History Professor @ American River College in Sacramento, California, 1995 to present.

     Youthful dreams of a professional basketball career ended when Rudy stopped growing at 5'8" and his attentions began to turn toward mental achievements as well as athletics.  But athletics were not totally out of the picture.  A National Merit Scholarship finalist and salutatorian of the TroutLake, Washington class of 1974, Rudy had a wide array of academic choices but chose junior college to prolong a fading athletic career.  Track & Field -- earned All-American at junior college and Fresno Pacific College before graduating cum laude in Physical Education.  With an eye toward coaching at the collegiate level, Rudy next earned an M.S. in Physical Education at Washington State University.  After stints at the HS and JC levels, five years were spent in the rain as Head Coach of Cross-Country and Track at Linfield College in Oregon.  Rudy began to consider indoor pursuits.

     Enjoyment of reading indicated the possibility of graduate school and in 1989, Rudy entered the history program at the University of Iowa.  For personal and family reasons, he returned in 1990 to the West Coast and finished his Ph.D. at Washington State University.  Rudy's dissertation was African Americans in Portland, Oregon, 1940-1950: Work and Living Conditions -- a Social History"

     American River College hired Rudy in 1995 where he started the Fall semester teaching the second half of the U.S. survey course as well as African American history.  Honors History 18 was later added.  Rudy has served on the Faculty Senate and other campus committees, advised student club activities, and given topical lectures on campus and in the community.  He was co-director of the Faces of America project, linking family photographs to personal and community history.  In 2002, Rudy received a Fullbright education scholarship and was part of a seminar team traveling to Uganda in Africa for five weeks.