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Canadian-born English professor
likes to curl

Doug Shaak, Multnomah's newest English professor, is an athlete and an actor

Schaak loves to play sports. Schaak loves golfing, curling, baseball and basketball. But this Schaak doesn't shatter backboards when he dunks the basketball, and he doesn't have a multimillion-dollar endorsement contract with Reebok. No, this Schaak is not Shaquille O'Neal. This Schaak is Multnomah Bible College's new English professor.

Paul Douglass Schaak was born to Paul and Myrt Schaak in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Sept. 14, 1968. Four years later, the family moved to Rolette, N.D.

Mr. Schaak grew up in a strong Christian home and made a commitment to Christ when he was 5 years old. He made his decision after hearing a sermon on heaven and hell. After church that night, he asked his dad about what the preacher had said. The elder Schaak explained to his young son the need for a savior and asked if he would like to accept Christ. "I remember that night very clearly," Mr. Schaak said. "It's one of my first memories. June 10, 1974, I got saved. And I'm glad that my dad was there to do it. I have a great heritage. Dad led me to Christ, and Mom nurtured me."

After graduating from high school, Mr. Schaak enrolled at Cedarville College in Ohio for a semester. Then he transferred to Butler University, a small liberal arts college in Indianapolis, Ind., to enroll in its radio and TV program. In 1990, Mr. Schaak graduated with his bachelors' degree in English, and two years later he received his master's in English.

After earning his degree, Mr. Schaak spent two years teaching in a Christian high school in Mobile, Ala., and at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Minnesota. Mr. Schaak left Pillsbury Baptist in 1994, when Idaho State University offered him an $11,000 fellowship to study at the university. Mr. Schaak accepted the offer, and he and his family lived in Pocatello, Idaho, until their recent move to Portland.

Mr. Schaak, who is working on his doctorate of arts in English, has already completed his course work and comprehensives, and is now working on his two doctoral papers. Mr. Schaak said he hopes to have his full doctorate from Idaho State University within the next two years.

All of his studies were preparatory to Mr. Schaak's eventual move to Multnomah Bible College after the spring semester of 1998. He said that the move to MBC was purely an act of God's will. "I sent out several inquiry letters to different Christian colleges over the past few years, sort of warming them up to the idea of [hiring me] when I graduate," Mr. Schaak said.

He said Barbara Darland, then the head of MBC's general education department, called him last fall to ask if he was still interested in a teaching position at Multnomah. Then, last spring, she called him to say that she was retiring, and that his bio was the first on her desk. "So in February, my wife and I traveled out here for the interview, and by March we were hired," he said.

Mr. Schaak and his wife, Libbey, have two children. Their son, Hogan, is 4; and their daughter, Chloe, who has an umlaut over the "E" in her name, is one-and-half.

What's an umlaut? "It's two dots," Mr. Schaak said. "Like two periods side by side. It makes almost an 'Ay' sound, but it's more of a stylistic device." Mr. Schaak said he and his wife had already "pretty much" settled on the name "Chloe" when he saw the alternate spelling "Chloe" listed in the name book. He thought, "Wow! That's a cool-looking name." He told his wife, "Hey, we need to go with this umlaut." "An umlaut on a name?" she said. "That's nuts!" But they thought it looked great, so they decided "to go with it, and give her a little distinction," he said.

Besides finding alternate spellings for his children's names, Mr. Schaak also enjoys physical activity. "I'm kind of a sports guy," he said. "I love to play competitive sports. I don't like sports like jogging. I don't really consider that a sport. I want to compete with someone and get a win, hopefully. I'm kind of fiery that way."

Mr. Schaak said he loves to play racquetball and fantasy football. Fantasy football is an annual event in which the participants form leagues, appoint a commissioner and "draft" their favorite NFL players to form their team. Participants then keep track of how many points their team earns during the season, and some groups even award prizes. Mr. Schaak said his favorite quarterback for the last two seasons has been the same player: the Green Bay Packer's quarterback, Brett Favre. "I picked first this year because I was so bad last year," he said. "I had a great team [last year], but I had two big injuries. In the first couple weeks of the year, two of my top players went down, and that'll do it, definitely."

Mr. Schaak said he also enjoys curling, in which four-man teams use brooms to sweep the ice clean, so the granite "stone" can glide freely toward the pin. "I'm hoping to get a [curling] club going here," he said.

Mr. Schaak said his love of sports began in high school, where he played both baseball and basketball. "We had a coach who was a professional baseball player previously, and he really turned me on to baseball in its finer form. So I really had a great baseball career in high school. I really loved that a lot." His favorite college experience was theater. "I was a theater minor, and I did a lot of plays when I was in college, both church- and school-related. Almost every semester I was in some kind of a production," he said.

Mr. Schaak played the role of Christ six years in a row in a passion play at his church. His other most notable role was "Judge Brack" in Henrick Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler." He described this character as "devious and unknowable." Now that he's at Multnomah, Mr. Schaak's duties include teaching English Essentials, English Composition and English Literature, which Mr. Schaak said he hopes to change to American Literature Survey by next year.

When he first arrived at MBC, he stayed with Dr. and Mrs. Jeff Arthurs, but now he and his family live in Vancouver, Wash. Since he arrived, he has befriended both Dr. Arthurs and athletic director Chris Reese. "He stayed at my house for eight days at the beginning of this year," Dr. Arthurs said. "I like him a lot, and I am looking forward to developing a friendship with him."

Coach Reese said that since Mr. Schaak has helped with basketball programs before, he hopes to have Mr. Schaak assist him in scouting for new basketball players. "He seems like a great guy," Coach Reese said. "I have a couple players in his class, and they have nothing but good things to say about him. He wants to be prepared, he studies hard before he teaches and he wants to make it different from year to year."