Alan Bruce is an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, but unlike most professors at Quinnipiac, he was born and raised in Scotland.

Although the native Scotsman now resides in West Hartford, Conn., he still feels close to home.

Bruce is from a small village named White Hills. The population of White Hills is in the hundreds, he said.

“The closest major city town near White Hills that one might know is Aberdeens,” Bruce said.

Prior to teaching at Quinnipiac University, Bruce taught at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

He reads his former regional paper “The Press and Journal” online everyday. According to Bruce, the paper is similar to the New Haven Register.

He travels to Scotland once a year to visit his family all of whom still live in Scotland, Bruce said. He said he also calls his family quite a bit and communicates with them through e-mail.

“Living in the United States is no different than living in London,” Bruce said. “Even though I would still be in the United Kingdom, if I was living in London I would still only see my family once a year.”

Besides family, what Bruce misses the most is soccer or “football” as he calls it.

“Nobody in America cares about the English Premier League or the Scottish League,” Bruce said, although he still keeps up with soccer from the United Kingdom.

However, Bruce is also a follower of American football now. His favorite team is the New York Jets.

While he loves his native Scotland, he also loves being in America.

“I love teaching at Quinnipiac, I love my life, I love my town and I love the weather,” Bruce said.

One thing Bruce does not miss is the dreary Scottish climate.

“I remember a time where people were walking down a beautiful Scottish beach in July, and these people were wearing winter clothes,” he said.

Bruce first came to the United States in 1992, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at a college in Aberdeens. He then became more interested in sociology, particularly crime.

Bruce then enrolled at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where he only planned to stay for one year and earn a master’s degree.

He decided to work for a PhD instead and graduated from Bowling Green in 1997. Now, at Quinnipiac, Bruce looks forward to a fulfilling semester at Quinnipiac.