Sarah Tracy
Reach for Excellence Professor of Honors OU's Medical Humanities Associate Professor, Honors

Most students are used to seeing their professors within the confines of campus or the classroom. But take a ride through the Oklahoma countryside on a sunny day and Dr. Sarah Tracy may just pass you­­: on her bicycle. For Tracy , it's not simply about balancing on two wheels, but the duality of her work as well.

"When I was really stressed out about my work, I could get on a bike and think about nothing but my breathing and focusing on getting somewhere and how I was riding," Tracy says. "Then, when I was out there, thinking why am I doing this? I always had my work to come back to. I always enjoyed both."

The director of OU's Medical Humanities Program and a Reach for Excellence Professor in the Honors College, Tracy has recently published her book, Alcoholism in America: From Reconstruction to Prohibition and an edited version Altering American Consciousness . Her main area of expertise is the history of medicine, but Tracy also teaches a variety of honors courses with subjects ranging from American medicine and public health to the sociology of science. Despite a somewhat daunting workload, Tracy makes time for her other passion: cycling.

As captain of Harvard University 's resurrected Women's Cycling Association during her undergraduate career, Tracy was the self-proclaimed number two racer on the team because, "number two, you try harder." She says one of her proudest moments was when her team won the Eastern College Athletic Conference her senior year. After a 16-year absence from the sport, a friend at OU persuaded her to return to where the rubber meets the road. Now, Tracy is president of the OKC Velo Club, a non-profit group that competes in charity rides and competitive races.

Tracy says it is her penchant for different forms of expression that has led her to success in the classroom as well.

"I enjoy good discussion and I think I've been very successful at getting students to think and discuss material in the classroom and think about how they express themselves both verbally and in written form," Tracy says.

Finding this balance with her students and her work has brought Tracy a variety of accolades from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institute for Mental Health and the American Association of University Women. Tracy says she encourages her students to remember to work hard and keep an open mind, because once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget.