Marty Kaliski: Living by “Learn by Doing”

Marty Kaliski has been an integral part of Cal Poly since 1986, where he served nine years as Department Chair in the Electrical Engineering Department. Despite his engineering roots, Marty is a great advocate for lifelong learning, especially when it comes to mastering new languages.

After studying French in high school, Marty decided fifty years later to pursue his interests in other languages. Since then, he has taken many, many courses offered at Cal Poly, in the World Languages and Cultures Department. This decision sparked an incredible journey of language learning.

Marty holds four degrees from M.I.T., including bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, a Master’s, and a PhD. in Electrical Engineering. Yet, his academic journey has yet to end. He thrives on the structure of being a student, and says that being surrounded by ambitious young people is inspiring, despite his ambivalence about group projects.

Over the past three years, Marty has taken on the monumental task of reading the entire Harry Potter series in German, completing a chapter a week, over three thousand pages long. His progress is supported by a “book club” with near native German speakers, underscoring his disciplined and collaborative approach to learning. He emphasizes, “Force yourself to read and write—it’s the only way to keep languages alive.” In a world obsessed with instant gratification, Marty demonstrates that learning is a lifelong pursuit that includes patience and dedication.

In 2022, Marty’s passion was recognized with the World Languages and Cultures Passionfruit Award (Honorable Mention) for his dedication to lifelong learning. 

Marty’s commitment to language learning also shines in personal moments. When his son married in Taipei, Taiwan in 2019, Marty addressed 200 guests in Mandarin Chinese, delivering a short, but heartfelt speech. He says, “Value learning languages—you never know when you may need them!”

To date, Marty has completed an astounding twenty-six language courses within the World Languages and Cultures Department, reaching intermediate to advanced levels of fluency in each language he has studied. Through his enthusiasm and dedication, Marty exemplifies Cal Poly's motto of “Learn by Doing,” proving that the journey of education never truly ends.