Two tall shelves stand weighted with books in psychology Professor John Buri’s office. Volumes of every imaginable psychology topic are stacked upright and piled sideways. No open slots remain. Even more books are piled precariously high on Buri’s desk.

His voracious appetite for reading was reaffirmed by something a now-retired colleague told him years ago.

“He said, ‘John, don’t ever forget why you went into this profession: Because you love to learn. Make sure you carve out time simply to learn and read.’ And so I do. I do a lot of reading,” Buri said.

Buri has been reading, learning and teaching at St. Thomas for 39 years, making him the longest-serving professor at the university.

He received his undergraduate degree from Loras College in Iowa and his master’s in cognitive psychology at Loyola University Chicago. He was hired at St. Thomas soon after graduating in 1976 and has stayed at the school ever since.

When Buri first arrived at St. Thomas, the campus looked very different than it does today. In 1976, St. Thomas was an all-male school with a little over 2,000 students, and the psychology department had four professors. His classes often had five or six students, and he estimates he taught 12 different courses in his first few years.

The department has since grown to 18 full-time and adjunct psychology faculty members, and Buri sticks to teaching four courses: introductory-level general psychology, research methods, learning and memory and his most in-demand class, psychology of marriage and family.

Buri’s marriage and family class is especially popular, and students of all majors vie for coveted spots in the course.

Senior Catholic studies major McKaela Laxen said Buri’s unique teaching style is one of the reasons she enjoys psychology of marriage and family so much.

“He has a reputation for being such a great professor because he’s just so real,” Laxen said. “He just says it like it is. He doesn’t sugarcoat things for us … He stays true to the psychology and the research, but also he’s not afraid to say something that might be uncomfortable or push the envelope a little bit.”

Sophomore psychology major Ana Martin is in Buri’s research methods class. She said that the material could be dry or difficult, but Buri works hard to make the content relevant to his students.

“I like him because of the examples he uses because it works well with my learning style, but I appreciate that he’s kind of funny too,” Martin said. “He makes it easier to be engaged and understand the material.”

What’s the secret to Buri’s swaths of interested, happy students?

“Make it relevant to life,” he said. “I’m constantly trying to look at the material and say, ‘So?’ I was a student a long time, and there were a lot of classes where I’d walk out and say, ‘What’s the point?’ And I don’t want that to happen.”

For Buri, connecting with students is one of the best parts of his job.

“I love our students. I care about them deeply, and I really do want their lives to go well,” Buri said. “I would love to see every student I’ve ever taught have a wonderful life. That’s sort of what drives me.”

Martin said his passion for teaching and his desire to make sure students understand the subject matter are visible.

“He’s enthusiastic about teaching. He’s told us a lot of times that he loves what he does. He comes in and he has some energy, and he’s kind of excited, and that makes it more engaging to listen to him talk,” Martin said.

The packed bookshelves in his office are evidence Buri’s teaching hasn’t become stale or outdated after 39 years. He said he’s constantly scouring books for new information to bring to class.

“(I’m) continually trying to figure out what are the nuggets that I haven’t yet mined that I will be able to pass on to my students. It’s like mining for gold, and I’ve found some wonderful motherloads. But there are more nuggets,” Buri said.

The distinction of longest-serving professor is one he accepts with humility and an undeterred excitement in teaching psychology.

“I feel very fortunate to have fallen into a career that suits me so well, that I enjoy so much, that is so personally rewarding. I’m just a very blessed man,” he said.

Sophie Carson can be reached at sophia.carson@stthomas.edu.