Kathryn Walters |
When UP seniors graduate this spring, they won’t be the only ones leaving the The Bluff with excitement for the future and a heavy dose of nostalgia. At the end of this semester, eight faculty and staff members will bid farewell to UP as they leave the world of academia for a new adventure: retirement.
A person’s choice to retire can be made up of many factors, but for several UP professors, like philosophy professor Thom Faller who has taught at UP for 50 years (the longest in the history of the University), it’s important that they go out while they still enjoy teaching and impacting students’ lives.
“I do not want to be sitting in front of class, sitting there drooling, thinking, what am I here for and the students thinking the same thing,” Faller said. “I want to go out while I’m still somewhat at the top of my game.”
Retirement presents many exciting opportunities that UP’s soon-to-be retirees look forward to. Library Head of Public Services Caroline Mann wants to visit every continent. Biology professor Christopher Kodadek looks forward to spending more time outdoors pursuing his passion for aquatic biology, while English professor Herman Asarnow plans to resume learning the baroque recorder and brush up on his French and Spanish. A few professors, like Fr. Claude Pomerleau and sociology professor Robert Duff, will continue to teach part-time, which will give them a chance to slow down and pursue other interests.
Though they may look forward to no more late nights spent grading papers and having more time for personal interests outside school, those members of UP’s community who retire will miss their time on The Bluff, whether it was interacting with students in the classroom, having lunch with faculty friends or seeing students transform from timid freshmen to confident young adults.
Thom Faller, philosophy, 50 years.
“There are those philosophers in the world who think it’s very exciting that Plato put the comma after the third word in ‘The Republic.’ That’s not something you need in your life. So I always felt that being a practical philosopher, I’m going to give people something that is applicable to them. And I hope that they (students) take that knowledge with them and apply it to their lives.”
Robert Duff, sociology, 42 years. (part time)
“I hope they (students) get what we call the sociological imagination, and look at the world a little differently than they did before they took the class. One of the reasons why I always love teaching intro so much is getting to do that with students who have never taken a sociology class. To see some of the students respond to what you try to teach them and get them excited about it and maybe go on to grad programs in the area, that’s very exciting.”
Herman Asarnow, English, 35 years.
“Watching people grow over four years, and for many people being a positive influence. That’s really gratifying and also it’s wonderful. It makes you feel as if you have a purpose and you care about all these people, so to swell the number of people you care about over the years, isn’t that amazing?”
Susan Baillet, psychology, 32 years.
“I’m going to miss interacting with the students which is the most fun part of my job, and I will miss the excitement of working with students on new ideas, ideas that are new for them, working with them and thinking about things in new ways.”
Christopher Kodadek, biology, 32 years.
“It was a smaller department when I first came here. We had three full time faculty and the number of students we had in 1984 was 15 biology students that graduated, and we had maybe a total of 60 biology majors, and the class sizes were very small and the offerings were really small too. We’ve really expanded the number of the courses we have here in biology. It’s just amazing that the variety that students can choose from now.”
Caroline Mann, head of Library public services, 16 years.
“In the Library, we’re kind of like Switzerland where we interact with everybody, and our job is interacting with everybody, so that was a real plus for me. I’ve gotten to know so many people, not just the faculty but Physical Plant and Public Safety and all the services on campus, so it’s just been great, and that’s going to be the hardest part about retiring is leaving behind all those relationships.”
Kathy Crabtree, nursing, 3 years (at UP), 44 years (total teaching)
“My hope (for my students) would be that UP grads would be leaders in changing the healthcare environment and promoting optimal health care outcomes. We have an opportunity right now because of the Affordable Care Act and we need to step up to the plate with our innovative ideas and our deep information and understanding of patient issues.”
Fr. Claude Pomerleau, political science, 23 years. (part time)
“By far, what I most enjoy here is the quality of students. In the last 10 years, it’s a rare student here that isn’t bright and insightful. I love being with young people – it energizes me.”
