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With memories of places from Hong Kong to Istanbul to Algiers, Jerry Salyer is living proof that the adage “Join the Navy, See the World” is not just a recruiting slogan. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics from Miami University in 1996, Jerry took a commission as a line officer in the US Navy. His duty assignments included a helicopter/VSTOL carrier, a NATO task force, and fleet staff -- and carried him to 23 different countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
The graduate of numerous military training schools in navigation, engineering, and missile systems, Jerry is the recipient of a Navy Commendation Medal, a Navy Expeditionary Medal, and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with 2 bronze stars.
After leaving the Navy, Jerry continued his education via the Great Books Program of St. John’s College, where he completed a master’s degree in liberal arts in 2005. While attending St. John’s he earned extra money by summer work aboard the deep-sea exploration vessel Atlantis of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. As a crewmember, Jerry aided with the launches and recoveries of the research submersible Alvin during a voyage later featured in the IMAX film Volcanoes of the Deep Sea.
Jerry is a true believer in the importance of cross-disciplinary learning. He has tutored for the physics department of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), taught humanities and philosophy courses at EKU, Bellarmine, and Jefferson Community College, and was a tutor at EKU’s Writing Center.
This enthusiasm for diverse fields of intellectual activity is reflected in his other passion, creative composition: Jerry’s short stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in a wide variety of print publications, including The Southern Arts Journal, The Ink-Filled Page, Hereditas, Relief, Catholic Men’s Quarterly, and Chronicles. Nancy Peacock – novelist and author of New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Life Without Water -- has described Jerry’s fiction as “unusual and haunting.”
His academic writing includes a paper presented at the University of North Carolina’s Conference on Science & The Humanities, in which he explored how Shakespeare’s depictions of magic might illuminate the social challenges posed by advanced science and technology. More recently, this past April he presented a paper on the philosophical roots of Kentucky poet Elizabeth Madox Roberts at the 11th Annual Elizabeth Madox Roberts Society Conference held at St. Catharine College in Springfield.
Jerry Salyer and his wife Mariya, a member of the Academy's founding faculty, have an infant daughter.
