Office Hours is a Leland Quarterly column exploring the nooks and crannies of our favorite professors’ and lecturers’ workspaces.

by Sandy Huang

He is probably an expert on truffles. He can teach you what you couldn’t learn in Catechism and Synagogue. He directs Stanford’s Alpine Archaeology Project. You’ve seen him on the National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.

Yeah, Patrick Hunt is kind of a big-time professor here at Stanford—even if his humility may cause him to profusely deny it.

As a member of Patrick’s SLE (Structured Liberal Education) section, I am constantly astonished by his vast knowledge of various topics. The size of his personal library just goes to show how well-read he actually is. My section notes tell me that he has quoted John Keats and Epictetus verbatim without ever having to consult a hard copy (or Google, I guess).

Patrick also composes operas, plays the flute fairly well, writes poetry inspired by his time teaching, and is editor-in-chief of a history-focused magazine called Electrum. And on top of all this, he works with Stanford’s athletic department in talking to interested recruits. Yep, that means he personally knows Andrew Luck and every other player on one of the top-ranked football teams in the nation (in fact, many of them have been to his house during their time on campus).

If Dos Equis ever decides that Jonathan Goldsmith is getting a bit too old, Patrick Hunt has my vote to replace him as the “The Most Interesting Man in the World-” even without the beard.