With his short gray hair, watchful eyes, authoritative voice and stern manner, high school math teacher and Vietnam veteran Jim O'Connor is used to commanding respect in the classroom. So his students were surprised to learn about his nickname at the hospital where he volunteers: the baby whisperer.

O'Connor, who teaches algebra and calculus at St. Francis High School in La Cañada, Calif., a Catholic prep school for boys in suburban Los Angeles, takes a no-nonsense approach to schooling.

"They just stare at him adoringly and he can really just get the crabbiest baby to calm down. It's amazing… He's just a natural-born cuddler."

(READ the full story at TODAY)