Matt Pacenza
English
EMAIL »
801.517.2197
EDUCATION
• M.A. in Newspaper Journalism, New York University
• B.A. in Environmental Policy, Cornell University
AWARDS & HONORS
• Board of Directors for Heal Utah, 2015-2017
• Member of Utah Community Foundation’s Enlightened 50, 2014 and 2015
• Mike Berger Award for Journalism in New York City, 2003
Matt Pacenza has been a member of Judge Memorial’s English Department since 2017. He currently teaches English to sophomores and juniors.
Before starting at Judge in 2017, Mr. Pacenza worked as the executive director of HEAL Utah, a local environmental nonprofit. He has also taught writing at the University of Utah, worked in magazine and newspaper journalism and in education and advocacy for health, environmental, theatre and human rights organizations. A native of upstate New York, he has lived and worked in Guatemala, New Orleans, New York City and Albany, N.Y. He now lives near Liberty Park with his wife Julie Stewart, a Westminster College professor, and two sons.
By encouraging discussion and nurturing individual thought in his own classroom, Mr. Pacenza hopes to challenge and inspire his students in a similar way. His students enjoy his sense of humor and kindness. He genuinely values what each student brings to the classroom.
Three pieces of advice he would give students is: “Read a lot. Be curious. Change your mind often!”
