Celebrating Our People | 25 Years | Lars Jorgensen '82

Even at a school known for its deep legacies and enduring tenures, few can say their Hopkins experience began at the age of four. Dean of Faculty Lars Jorgensen, however, can trace his storied history on the Hill to a small yet impactful moment that helped shape his life and career.

 

As he often did, young Jorgensen sat in the back of a Hopkins classroom coloring while his father—who taught math at Hopkins from 1957 until the mid-1990s—conducted class. As Jorgensen recalled, he must have caused a commotion while working in his Batman coloring book that caught the students’ attention. “I don’t remember all the details, but I remember all the students turning around and smiling at me. They were always so kind,” Jorgensen said. That sense of community would later draw him back to Hopkins to teach.

 

Jorgensen’s father, an immigrant from Denmark, took on a math teaching role as his first full-time job in America, beginning a Hopkins legacy that has now spanned generations.

 

“There probably isn’t a time in my mind that I didn’t know Hopkins,” Jorgensen shared, as he reflected on a childhood filled with sports games and music concerts on the Hill.

 

When he entered Hopkins as a seventh grader, Jorgensen said he was excited to see the School from the lens of a student, even if his experience of being a “faculty kid” felt unique. Though he never had his father as a classroom teacher, their paths intersected in other ways—most notably on the soccer field, where his father coached him. Athletics played a significant role in Jorgensen's life at Hopkins. 

 

“If you read comments from my teachers, they probably frequently said, ‘If he was willing to work as hard in the classroom as he did on the athletic field, he’d be a star student,’” Jorgensen said with a laugh. His involvement in sports shaped his high school experience and led to lifelong friendships and mentorships, particularly with former soccer coach Eric Mueller. Jorgensen hasn’t lost his athletic spark. An avid biker and runner today, he can often be seen jogging around campus after school hours, circling the same fields he ran on as a student.

 

After graduating from Hopkins, Jorgensen pursued a degree in environmental engineering and spent over a decade working in the field. However, corporate politics and his passion for mentoring young engineers eventually drew him away from that world and back to the Hill.

 

“I called an old family friend at Hopkins for advice, and he said, ‘We need three math teachers. Why don’t you come in?’” Jorgensen explained. His interview included a tour of campus, an experience he described as “incredibly surreal,” as the smell of the Baldwin Hall basement brought back vivid childhood memories.

 

“I got the job. How could I say no? This is where I pictured myself,” he added.

 

Following in his father’s footsteps, Jorgensen started as a math teacher and coach in the junior school. “I’ve always loved working with younger students,” he said. Over the years, his responsibilities expanded, leading him to take on roles as a head adviser and eventually as Dean of Students.

 

“What I love about this current role is that it’s an administrative position that doesn’t distance me from kids,” he noted. Whether mentoring students through disciplinary challenges or leading student council initiatives, Jorgensen has always prioritized connection and understanding. 

 

“Kids make mistakes as part of their development,” he said. “It’s not about us; it’s about helping them learn and grow.”

 

Jorgensen’s deep connection to Hopkins came full circle when his own children (Erik ’11 and Kirsten ’13) attended the School. He navigated the unique dynamic of being both a parent and a faculty member by striving to give his kids the space they needed to navigate their own journeys. He had his own father as a role model for how to deal with these challenges.

 

“I was very conscious of giving them their space,” he said, recalling moments like chaperoning dances his children attended.

 

Despite physical and curricular changes at Hopkins since that impactful day as a four-year-old in the back of his father’s class, Jorgensen says the spirit of the Hopkins community remains the same.

 

“The students, colleagues, and parents are what make this place special,” he said. “That’s what keeps me here. It’s what brings me joy every day.”