Alumni Stories

By Dana Larkin Sauers '74, P'99, P'03, P'03, P'09

Following the life commitment to virtue, academics, and service of Dr. Brian E. Klunk ‘73, it is unsurprising that when he retired on June 30, 2025, from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., he was awarded the Order of Pacific, which the university describes as the highest honor it can bestow.  

Klunk earned a B.A. (1977) in Foreign Service and International Politics from Pennsylvania State University (with high honors) and an M.A. (1980) and Ph.D. (1985) in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. At the University of Virginia, he was a Thomas Jefferson Fellow. Klunk is a member of Phi Kappa Phi (general academic honor society) and Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science). 

Klunk suggests that his “life’s work” so far has had two tracks: his professional life’s work and, especially since 1999, his Catholic social ministry work. 

“From 1984 to 2025, I was a college professor. From 1984 to 1987, I was a visiting assistant professor at Union College (N.Y.). From 1987 to 2025, I was a faculty member at UOP, serving at various times in the School of International Studies and the Political Science Department. For many years at UOP, I straddled purely academic and administrative roles, serving as an assistant dean, department chair, academic council chair, and dean search committee chair. Now retired from UOP’s faculty, I have an emeritus faculty appointment in politics, law, and international studies.” 

Most of Klunk’s teaching has been in international relations. “I have also been deeply engaged in the general education program. During the last five years of my tenure, I was the principal developer and lead instructor for a core first-year general education seminar. For the last decade or so, I have belonged to the reacting to the past consortium. Reacting to the past is an active-learning pedagogy based on intensive role-playing games set in historical situations, e.g., Athens 403 B.C.E., immediately after the rule of the Thirty Tyrants.” 

His recent scholarly work has “focused on Catholic Social Thought's influence (or lack of it) on the recent development of the just war tradition. [He has] also done some work on game-based learning.” 
An inspirational influencer (for Klunk) is the late Bishop Stephen G. Blaire, who served as Bishop of Stockton from 1999 to 2018. “He called me frequently to serve the diocese, and he taught me a lot about Catholic Social Teaching, especially the critical importance of ‘right relationships.’ He suggested readings that have deepened my faith (Gerhard Lohfink’s Jesus of Nazareth, for example). But most importantly, he showed me that the heart of right relationships is friendship by treating me fraternally from our first meeting.” 

“I served for several years as the Stockton Diocese's point person on international solidarity. For the most part, this involved working closely with Catholic Relief Services to promote participation by our parishes, schools, and other entities in CRS programs. I visited CRS programs in Cambodia in 2006, where I saw firsthand the impact of those programs.” 

“In 2005, Bishop Blaire appointed me to the preparatory commission for the Diocesan Synod that was held later that year. On the commission, I was one of the principal authors of a draft decree for the diocese’s goal to ‘integrate social justice into parish life.’ My parish selected me to be a member of the synod itself.” 
“For many years, I was a member of the Stockton Diocese’s Social Justice Ministry Leadership Team, which worked to help the bishop promote social justice ministry in our parishes and schools. I have also been a member of our parish’s social justice ministry, serving as the ministry’s chair since 2018. Our ministry is responsible for reviewing and supporting our parish’s social justice programs and for recommending innovative programs to the pastor. I am our parish’s coordinator for the Family Promise program, which helps families avoid becoming unhoused and provides room and board and counseling for a small number of unhoused families.” 

Klunk reflected on how Delone Catholic provided the foundation for his life’s work. “This is ironic since we didn’t stress the motto as much back then as Delone seems to do now, but my most important lesson was about service. I remember one day Sister Valeria asked me what kind of career I wanted. At the time, I thought I would become a foreign service officer. When I told her that, she responded, ‘That’s good. As long as you are in service.’ The idea that our work, whatever it is, should be at the service of others has stuck with me. James 1:22, right?”

“The other thing I have carried with me is a joyful, playful, improvisational attitude toward learning. Many of the teachers at the time were very good at encouraging us to explore different paths through the subjects we studied and to discover our own ways of showing what we could do. Now that I think about it, much of my lifelong approach to pedagogy (a fancy word for teaching and learning) came from that atmosphere.” 

He fondly recalls the spiritual lessons of Father Gerard Steffener, who was the chaplain for most of those years (and who drove the Westminster bus). “He introduced me to the importance of praying with the Scriptures, which has long been a daily part of my spiritual practice. He also taught me about ‘teachable moments,’ but that’s another story. He helped me recognize the ineffable moments when we are touched by the divine. And while I’m on a Father Gerard stream, he strongly affected my appreciation of and approach to the Eucharist as a moment for joyful, ecstatic sharing. I certainly have benefited from many other spiritual lessons over the years, but those Delone lessons were a tremendous starting point.” 

“I have so many good memories of Delone. Ask me on any day and I will give you a different answer. Today, what’s making me smile are memories of sitting in the old gym and watching my friends perform in plays: Sharron (Hoffmann) Quay ‘73 in Antigone, Mike Becker ‘70 as Mr. DePinna in You Can’t Take It With You, and especially John Harrison ‘73 and Steve Mathias ‘73 in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Mr. Chuck Glessner was involved in all of those. . . During the second semester of our first year (I think), we had Glessner for a class in Fine Arts. And I have a related favorite memory from it. Glessner was doing a module on drama and explained that when he was the director of a play, he was all-knowing and all-powerful. (He may or may not have used the word god.) Just as he said it, a thunderstorm erupted with loud thunderclaps. Glessner, who recognized a cue, went with the moment. He pointed dramatically at the window and said at full volume, ‘Zap! Stop!’ And it stopped.” 

Other memorable teachers include Mr. Bob Fulmer. “Fulmer taught our social studies classes for three of our four years. He also sponsored the International Relations Club and was our faculty advisor for the Georgetown Model UN all four years. During the summer of 1972, he hired John Harrison, Joe Conrad ‘73, and me to help him do data collection for his M.A. thesis. I stayed connected with Bob until he retired from teaching a few years ago. Pretty clearly, the clearest line from my professional life and a Delone teacher leads straight to Bob.” 

“Sister Francine, (at the time, SCC). Again, a three-year teacher. In those pre-AP days, she agreed to do an honors math class for Harrison, Mathias, Conrad, Tom Brenner ‘73, Debbie (Hemler) Kuhns ‘73, and me. I think this was both junior and senior years. Despite our best efforts to distract her, she taught us a lot of math, which is to say, she taught us a lot about thinking clearly. Sister Francine, whom we called ‘Sist,’ had a very stern exterior, but she was really a pussy cat. She also couldn’t resist a pun or a pentagonal dodecahedron joke. Her opinion may have meant more to us than any of our other teachers. We still say, ‘Sist would be proud’ when we do something well.” 

“Mr. Richard Feeser was my music teacher and band director from 1964 or 1965 when I joined his music program until 1971 when he retired from Delone. I have thought of myself as a musician ever since. In fact, I keep a trumpet by my desk and play it from time to time.” 

“Sister Regis Marie, SL. Another teacher with a severe, no-nonsense image and a huge spirit and dry sense of humor. I learned enough Spanish in two years of her classes to skate through my B.A. and Ph.D. language requirements. She was tremendously effective.” 

“Ms. Mary Furlong. We only had one semester with Furlong as our teacher, but you couldn’t escape her influence at Delone, especially if you were a forensics kid. I’m not sure how she managed to keep up her network of alumni, so many students over the years, but I was honored to be in it. I was one of the International Women’s Day letter recipients. Just before she passed, I turned in the last homework assignment she gave me—the Delone Hall of Honor nomination package for Steve Mathias.”

Klunk continued, “That leaves out many other teachers who were important to me in one way or another: Mrs. Willet, Sister Rita Catherine, Phil Monteith, Tom England, Joe Bonner, Sister Rose Maureen, Jim Livelsberger ‘62, Dave McElheny, and probably lots more.” 

Still in touch with Delone Catholic friends, Klunk said, “I stay in touch with many old friends, but not as many as I wish I were. Email and social media make it easy to communicate with many. Oddly, I am closer to some people than I was when we were at Delone. I remain closest to the forensics bunch, especially Joe Conrad, John Harrison, Steve Mathias, Dane Keller Rutledge ‘73, Karen Steinour ‘73, and occasionally Hank Shea ‘74. It’s a rare week when I’m not in touch with one of them. Only Joe Conrad and I live in the same state, so keeping these people in my life seems like a magnificent blessing.” 

Retirement presents an opportunity. “I have had a bad habit of incorporating my passions into my courses, so it often wasn’t clear if they were hobbies anymore or just part of work. One of my retirement goals is to nurture my avocations and hobbies for their own sake. For example, I have dabbled with board games, and I hope to refine my participation in that hobby. I would also like to become a better gardener than I am now. And I can now be more orderly about some favorite pastimes. My ‘to-be-read’ list reminds me of the way Marley’s Ghost described the ghostly chain that Scrooge wore. It’s ponderous and grows daily. I’m also a Christmas records geek. This year, I will curate my 25th annual holiday playlist and share it with family and friends.” 

Family has been an essential part of Klunk’s life. He married Beverly Herrink Klunk in 1979, who retired from a banking career in 2023. “She is one of the core leaders of the Delta Sculling Center, a rowing club with a mission to make that sport accessible to the broadest possible range of people.” They share two sons, both of whom graduated from the University of the Pacific. “Patrick, our elder son, works in construction management. His wife Paige recently gave birth to their first child, Reid Patrick Klunk. She works in sales. Our other son, Edward, works for a Stockton bank.”