Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Failor

Dr. Failor holding a pipette is a “classic” from Summer @ Stanford.

Dr. Kim Failor, one of our favorite science instructors at OHS, talks with Shivek Narang about her love for biology, OHS, hobbies, and more!

Dr. Kim Failor is currently the lead biology instructor and the Division Head of Sciences here at the Stanford Online High School. Having taught AP Biology, Methodology of Science - Biology, and Study of the Mind in the past, she currently teaches Advanced Topics in Biological Research! Passionate about all things biology and science, it wasn’t always this way for Dr. Failor.

As a young child, Dr. Failor was always that one student who loved school. In fact, she had trouble finding a favorite subject, enjoying both the humanities and STEM. It took some end-of-high-school reflection for Dr. Failor to realize her love for biology, a passion that has stayed with her throughout her career.

One of the most consistent themes in Dr. Failor’s journey was the presence of crossroads. At every major turning point in her life - from the end of high school to her eventual choice of career, Dr. Failor always made sure to ask “What’s next” and to take advantage of the multiple opportunities arising after her successes. 

Guided with her love for school, Dr. Failor spent most of her early education soaking in everything she learned, from writing and literature to math and science. But as she reached the end of high school, Dr. Failor reached her first crossroads, having to go through the tough process of choosing a major to pursue in college. Looking back at everything she had learned, Dr. Failor made a gut decision to pursue biology, a decision that turned out to be one of the best choices she ever made. 

Always one to keep pushing boundaries even during her undergraduate years, Dr. Failor was filled with a passion for self-discovery. In the summer in between sophomore and junior year, she received a fellowship to work at a neurobiology lab. This was her first taste of lab research, an experience she never forgot. And once again, as Dr. Failor completed her undergraduate schooling, she was again left with crossroads; she saw several paths, from working at a biotech or pharmaceutical company to medical school to pursuing research. Ultimately, remembering the love for research she experienced during her work in the neurobiology lab, Dr. Failor chose to follow the path of research. That’s where she found herself at Berkeley, and after pursuing her research in studying how hormones regulate cell-cell interactions in mammary epithelial cells, she asked herself the central question once again, “What do I do next?”

Now along the way, in addition to her research as a graduate student, she was required to serve as a TA for 2 semesters. Dr. Failor didn't have much teaching experience or formal training at this point, but being a TA was one of those moments where she went “oh my God I love this!” Dr. Failor mentioned loving leading discussions among small cohorts of 20 students from gigantic classes of more than 250 students. She especially loved seeing those lightbulb moments of students and helping them piece things together while sharing her love of biology. While she was only required to serve 2 semesters as a TA, she ended up doing more, mostly because she enjoyed doing that as a supplement to lab work.

Following her success and PhD as a grad student, Dr. Failor met with Dr. Jan Keating, who had founded a new online school, the one that we know as Stanford Online High School. Dr. Failor recalls Dr. Keating informing her of an opening for a biology teacher spot. And having been completely enamored with her little teaching gig in grad school, Dr. Failor decided to take up the spot, and the rest is history!

Having been at OHS essentially since its inception over a decade ago, Dr. Failor has seen our school grow and change over an entire decade. She remembers that the very first year, there were only 30 students, forming a very small but tight knit community. And as the school grew and became more interconnected, OHS began to bring together so many people who were passionate about what they do and teachers who were passionate about their discipline and teaching. It was this beautiful community that led Dr. Failor to fall in love with the school.

Dr. Failor and the OHS Science Bowl 2020 team

In her free time, Dr Failor loves to bake, and the number of goodies she makes has skyrocketed during quarantine. Dr. Failor jokes that prior to the pandemic, it would have taken her years to go through the bags of 25 pounds of flour for baking, but now she goes through that much every 3-4 weeks because of how much she is baking. She loves exploring, trying something new nearly every week. Dr. Failor also enjoys reading; she frequently goes on littler reading binges on a particular topic, building on one theme as she dives deep into the field. She recounts that as she was reading a biography of a famous marine biologist Dr. Rachel Carson, she noticed a reference to another author Leopold, an ecologist and inspiration to Carson’s work. Dr. Failor vividly remembers the surreal experience of reading Leopold’s work while being one with nature in the Galapagos as part of an OHS trip.

Dr. Failor hiking at Sequoia National Park

Dr. Failor snowboarding in Lake Tahoe