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Your college experience was memorable for many reasons.
You remember where you studied, new friends you made, your favorite
class, your least-favorite class, etc. However let's not forget
your favorite professors and mentors. Sure, some of them caused
you headaches and ulcers. But others held your hand and walked
you through your college experience, and maybe even invited you
to their home for a dinner or two. They told you not to give
up and taught you invaluable skills that you still use today. —The Editors |
NOTE: These entries include edits and even complete entries that were not included in the printed edition of the WVU Alumni Magazine.
My favorite
professor was Dr. Bill Childs, professor of horticulture. He
was very practical. I did gardening with him at his home in Suncrest,
WV.
William M. Nixon '49 BS, '59 MS
Eustis, FL
In 1946,
I was enthralled by Dr. Carl M. Frasure of the political science
department. The war had only recently ended and we all were curious
as to the future and had many questions regarding the recent
past. The class contained many radicals . . . communists, Trotskyites,
brownshirts (I was the class Zionist). No question appeared to
ruffle the professor. He always answered clearly, calmly, and
to me, with great wisdom. Most of my political philosophy was
formed in his classes.
Carl Abrams, '50 BA, '52 JD
Washington, D.C., and Hedgesville, WV
Dr. Ruel Foster was the best—a big man, but soft-spoken and interesting. It's been 50 years and I still remember him.
His love of teaching along with his presence made it a privilege to be in his classroom. I hope he knows how much he was appreciated by all.
Charles Belgrade, '55 BA
North Plainfield, NJ
My favorite
professor while a physical education and recreation major at
WVU was Dean Charles Peter Yost.
While I had numerous excellent professors at WVU, Dr. Yost has always stood out in my mind and my heart. He was also my toughest professor, but always fair.
I remember taking one of Dr. Yost's courses, Life Saving Instructorship. We were extremely well taught in basic theory, but then had to demonstrate various swimming strokes. As he observed me attempting to demonstrate the backstroke, he pulled me aside and said, quite directly, "Mr. Williams, you will make an excellent swimming coach, but NEVER try to demonstrate the backstroke for anyone!" I came to love this gentle soul who has been gone from us for a number of years now. I have had the opportunity from time to time to donate monies to the scholarship that is in his name at the University, and am very proud to do so.
My favorite
coach at WVU was Mary Katherine "Kacy" Wiedebusch,
then director of Orchesis, but that is another story.
Dale E. Williams, '58 BS
Clintonville, WV
My favorite professor was Ruth Holden, who taught American literature. She told us that no one can go everywhere in the world or meet every interesting person in history, but if we read we could have these experiences without ever leaving West Virginia. Almost 50 years later, I agree with her more than ever.
Kathryn Sell Chillingworth '59 BA
Scenery Hill, PA
The greatest teacher in my student career
is a man whose lessons I have tried to apply, with varying degrees
of success and failure, every day since I walked into his classes
45 years ago-journalism professor Paul Atkins.
Paul was, and is, genuine, honest, sincere, patient, and hard-working.
He treated every student as an equal, never ignored or failed
to answer a question, never corrected without explaining the
reason, and all in good humor.
His special talent was instruction in the crafts of writing and
editing.
If we students didn't learn, that was our loss. Thanks to Paul,
it was all there for the taking, and still is.
Joe Sigler '61 BSJ
Tallahassee, FL
My freshman-year instructor Enid Pallant
was the one I still remember as my favorite.
Miss Pallant was thoroughly committed to the importance of her
work as an oral interpretation teacher in the speech department.
She was passionate about the value of speaking well the written
word, and she revealed to her students the nuances and inestimable
value of good writing itself.
She was careful to encourage her students as individuals. I'll
never forget her taking the time to send some of my poetry to
a former instructor of hers for evaluation-and the dismay on
her face when she read his reply dismissing my work as "too
feminine." Neither will I forget her announcing to our class
that she would no longer be allowed to teach at WVU because she
was marrying music school instructor Donald Portnoy, and it was
University policy not to employ two members of the same family.
Truly effective instructors are rare and valuable; it is a grave
loss to students when such a teacher is eliminated from the staff
on a mere technicality. As the women's movement gained prominence
in the 1960s, I understood Miss Pallant's dilemma more clearly.
I wish the University had valued her as much as a teacher as
she valued me as a wide-eyed freshman.
Margaret Johnson Reynolds '62 BA
Springfield, VA
[Clifton Morris] was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known! I think his IQ was 160 when he took the IQ test and he was sick that day! Dr. Morris is one of the finest, most moral, most Christian, and highly educated people I have ever known. To know him is to love him!
R. Jay Stipes '61 MS
Blacksburg, VA
My favorite
professor at WVU was Dr. Denis MacDowell. He and I entered life
on the campus in September of 1959. It was his first year as
a chemistry professor and mine as a freshman physics major. I
enjoyed his class because I liked chemistry and he always made
the class extra interesting with simple visual aids that applied
to everyday life.
After several weeks of doing this, he invited me to share time with his family. I attended several dinners at their home and felt so welcome.
I was ever so flattered that he tried to recruit me to becoming a chemistry major. So glad I didn't—I married a physics graduate student and have a wonderful life!
Bonniegail Kucan Coleman, '63 BS
Colorado Springs, CO
After reading the latest edition of the
WVU Alumni Magazine and your invitation to write of a favorite
mentor, I feel I must relate my story of a former Russian language
instructor at WVU. Mr. John Pushkarsh Jr., who was not only my
mentor but also had a major impact on my career choice which
ultimately enriched my life and many others as well.
I have enclosed a copy of a newspaper article which, in essence,
describes the Russian language program at Kenston High School
which I began in 1965. In this article I refer to WVU and John
Pushkarsh Jr. What the article doesn't mention is $100 which,
perhaps, is the most interesting piece of the story about which
only a few people know.
I was born and raised in Clarksburg, graduated from Victory High
School in 1959, received my BS in education at WVU in 1963, and
did my student teaching in biology at University School. My undergrad
major was biological sciences, my minor was English, and my third
subject was Russian which I managed to acquire fifteen semester
hours. Nearing graduation, Mr. Pushkarsh asked me what my plans
were. My plans were either to enter the army and study Russian
at the Defense Army Language School and join the Army Security
Agency or to teach English at Kenston High School and perhaps
begin a Russian language program once I received enough hours
(24) to become certified.
Mr. Pushkarsh said he would give me $100 from the Russian club
monies to help defray books and tuition cost at Colby College's
Summer School of Languages in Waterville, Maine. This would give
me six more semester hours which left only the three more I needed
for certification. He said I could probably find a college or
university in the Cleveland area that offered Russian and I could
pick three more hours, which I did at Hiram College. He encouraged
me to go into teaching.
In 1965 I became certified to teach Russian and began the program
with 18 students I recruited from my English classes. When I
retired in 1994, the program had about 150 students enrolled
in a five year program beginning in the eighth grade. In 1974
I was selected as an exchange teacher and spent time in Moscow
and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) teaching English in special
schools for English language. This experience truly changed my
life and for the next 20 years I took hundreds of students and
adults to the former Soviet Union on study-tours to practice
their Russian and to learn about the Russian culture, history,
and especially the people.
During this period there were numerous articles in our local
papers about our program and after my teaching stint in Russia,
I sent one of the articles to Mr. Pushkarsh. He wrote me back
congratulating me on my success and mentioned how proud he was
of me and that "that was the best $100 he ever spent."
I was a little confused by this so I called him at California
State Teachers College in Pennsylvania where he was also teaching
at the time. What I found out was that, essentially, there was
no money in the Russian Club Fund and as president of the club
I should have remembered this. The money had come out of his
own pocket! When I offered to repay him, he was very adamant
in his "no."
Just as the torch was passed to me in 1963, I passed it on to
two former students who are doing an excellent job and the Kenston
Russian Language Program is still thriving. After eight years
in the corporate world from which I retired in 2002, I find myself
back in the classroom at the request of my former principal at
Kenston High School who is now the headmaster at St. Vincent-St.
Mary High School in Akron. After beginning the Russian language
program in 2003, my plan is to teach two more years and once
again pass the torch to two former Kenston students, one of whom
is already certified to teach Russian and the other working toward
her certification a Kent State University. I'm sure they will
do a marvelous job.
The ripple effect from all of this would be impossible to calculate.
I do know that over the years, many lives have been touched on
both sides of the Atlantic in a very reciprocal way. I often
think of my days at WVU and of a perceptive, inspirational, and
generous Russian language instructor who saw potential in an
aspiring student, helped him to fulfill a dream, and literally
"put his money where his mouth was." Not bad for a
$100 investment!
William N. O'Neil '63 BS
Chagrin Falls, OH
I had
many many grand teachers during my years at WVU, but the individual
who stands head and shoulders above them all was Professor Festus
Paul Summers of the history department. I was fortunate to have
had Professor Summers for two courses. Then chairman of the history
department, he taught the second half of the Survey Course of
American History, a task usually relegated to graduate students.
The fact that this was an introductory freshman or sophomore
course did not stem his enthusiasm one whit. He approached the
class and taught as if we were upper-level history majors; and
I think the vast majority of the class rose to meet Professor
Summers's expectations. One particular class must surely have
taxed his ingenuity and professionalism; it was a daily two-hour-long
mid-afternoon (typical sweltering and humid Morgantown) summer
session on the second floor of un-air-conditioned Woodburn Hall.
Professor Summers's ability to transcend the environment and
pull each of us into the post-Civil War period caused us to ignore
our discomfort! He even made the presidential campaigns, issues,
and party platforms, (which we had to memorize; gentleman though
he was, he was also most demanding!) compelling and relevant
to our present lives—not an easy task!
However, Professor Summers was even better in his History of
West Virginia course; he wrote the book (actually, he did: West
Virginia: the Mountain State by Charles H. Ambler and Festus
P. Summers. 1958, Prentice-Hall, Inc.). In this class, it often
seemed as if we students were children listening to the factual
reminiscences of a beloved grandfather rather than the lectures
of the leading living authority of West Virginia history!
In addition to his encyclopedic knowledge of American and West
Virginia history, Professor Summers was (to my West Virginia
Yankee mind), the "Southern Gentleman" ideal come to
life! With his soft, easy drawl; quiet dignity and bearing; his
understated self-assuredness and confidence; innate mannerliness
and respect for us as soon-to-be-fellow scholars (He even remembered
names of former students years later!), Professor Festus Paul
Summers was a genuine southern gentleman who just happened to
have chosen teaching as his life's work, thus influencing, directly
and indirectly, generations of folks— "and that has
made all the difference"!
Jane-Mary Williams Gay '64 BS, '69 MA
Williamsburg, Virginia
In the German section of the foreign language department, Dr. Victor Lemke, Dr. Harley Taylor, Dr. Bohdan Plaskacz, and Professor Michel Beauchemin were very supportive of me and gave me opportunities to do things I had no idea I would ever be able to do.
Michel Beauchemin especially was instrumental in urging me to apply for a study abroad opportunity. After I had been told by the previous study abroad advisor that I would not be competitive, I not only was a first choice for a DAAD grant (German Academic Exchange Service) but was an alternate for a Fulbright fellowship in the same year.
I remember with great fondness Dr. Kurt Rosenbaum, with whom I studied Russian history; he was very kind to me and gave me good advice though I was not a history major.
In the
administrative area, Dr. Robert Stilwell, then chair of the foreign
languages department, supported me strongly and Gordon Thorn
in student affairs was very, very supportive of me as financial
aid officer. Without his kindness and consideration and that
of his staff, I would not have been able to accomplish what I
did at WVU. As an African American student at WVU in the mid-60s,
one didn't have very many ethnic role models. The professors
I have mentioned here made the ethnic identity irrelevant in
their ability to relate to me as a student, an individual, and
a person who, for whatever reasons, they felt deserved support
and encouragement. For the kindnesses and humanity they showed
towards me I am still thankful and grateful.
Richard Ernest Walker '66 AB, '68 MA
College Park, MD
My favorite
professor was Dr. Wesley M. Bagby, professor of history. I graduated
in 1967 and recall only two professors, Dr. Bagby and Dr. Patrick
Gainer of the English department, who was quite a character as
well.
Although I was a pre-med major, I took every course that Dr.
Bagby taught. He was an excellent lecturer and forced his students
to think, which is the essence of a great teacher. But what I
remember most was the fact that he was an outspoken critic of
the Viet Nam War. He had studied the situation and correctly
analyzed the fallacies of our policies. History has proved him
correct. His position was very controversial in the mid-1960s,
especially since WVU was not exactly a hotbed of dissent.
James E. Barone '67 AB
Stamford, CT
It's
a tie between Dr. Ruel Foster, English, and Dr. Scott Stringham,
music. Foster would clump in late in his sandals, carrying a
pile of notes he never looked at, because he already knew everything
about American literature. We would write long essay tests but
never minded doing so.
Stringham held hundreds in the old music school's auditorium spellbound in music appreciation class. He was rough, too. He would play "drop the needle" on quizzes and we would have to identify the exposition or the recapitulation. He got me excited about music—I would take him records I bought and he would play them in his office.
Bettijane Christopher Burger, '68 BA
Charleston, WV
I wanted
to recognize some of my favorite professors at WVU: Dr. Carter
Bishop, Dr. Robert Armstrong, Dr. John Harrington Cox, Dr. L.B.
Hill, and Rebecca Pollock.
Beryl M. Burchinal '34 BA, '47 MA
Pittsburgh, PA
In 1938 I was graduated from Morgantown
High School at age 15.
Nervous about going on to WVU with the older students, I thought
to stay out a year.
My Dad took me over to meet with Dr. Frank Cuthbert, director
of the music school-my chosen major. Obviously they had spoken
and Dr. Cuthbert was so warm and easy I felt reassured.
After a chat, Dr. Cuthbert said if I was concerned about anything,
from classes to boys. I could come to him at any time.
A few times I did seek his advice and he always gave me his full
attention to whatever we discussed.
Over the years I knew he was keeping an eye on me-a nod, a wink,
a passing comment.
I'm not sure I ever made it clear to him how much I appreciated
him. I hope he knew.
Music was my major, art my minor, and both have been a large
part of my life to this day-aesthetically and financially-thanks
to Dr. Cuthbert and WVU
Maxine Blacksire Ludden '42
I was a freshman at WVU in 1941. My advisor
was Dr. Frances D'Lancy. She was always ready to listen to you
and to advise you. I really looked forward to seeing and meeting
with her.
She also was a professor of political science. I had several
classes under her. She made you want to read more than expected
and to think. She was a great teacher and lady.
Martha Wilson '45 AB
Mrs. P.I. Reed was one tough but effective professor teaching freshman English. The perfect lady in every way, she inspired her students to strive for perfection and accepted nothing less.
Bob Powell '47 BSJ
This is a no-brainer for me. I nominate Dr. Carl Frasure who taught political science and was also my faculty advisor.
Charlie Hodges '53 BA
In 1946, I was enthralled by Dr. Carl M.
Frasure of the political science department. The war had only
recently ended and we all were curious as to the future and had
many questions regarding the recent past. The class contained
many radicals . . . communists, Trotskyites, brownshirts (I was
the class Zionist). No question appeared to ruffle the professor.
He always answered clearly, calmly, and to me, with great wisdom.
Carl Abrams '50 BA, '52 JD
Washington, D.C., and Hedgesville, WV
My favorite
professor would have to be Mr. Fred Gieler from the College of
Pharmacy.
I started pharmacy school in 1950 in the basement of Woodburn
Hall. I was still reeling from being told that out of about 60
students, only half of us would probably survive. I think 25
of us finally made it. That was my apprehensive mental state
when I entered Professor Gieler's classroom. A very imposing
man at about 6 foot 3, he also was a neat, precise, and at first
meeting, seemed an intimidating man. However, underneath that
facade of intimidation was a kind hearted and helpful instructor.
My favorite story of Professor Gieler's class occurred shortly
after starting my pharmacy courses. I don't remember if it was
required or suggested but we all wore coat and tie. However,
one student kept coming to class in a flannel shirt. After about
a week of this man not being able to answer a question, the good
Professor said "If you can't answer any better than that
how do you expect to get through pharmacy school?" The student
replied "pharmacy school? I'm supposed to be in forestry
school. Thereupon, he took up his books and left the room. Those
memories are just wonderful.
Robert R. Lewis '54 RPh
East Liverpool, OH
If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan as I am, then you would have had great admiration for Dr. Milford Hobbs as I did. He was my favorite professor. Dr. Hobbs, a pathologist in the WVU med school, was a Holmes scholar and belonged to a group called The Baker Street Irregulars-he even wore a Holmes hat. What made him such an interesting professor was that he treated medical cases as Holmes mysteries! He was a pioneer in forensic medicine at WVU and with the Morgantown crime unit. His main responsibilities were instructing medical and the medical technology students. We all benefited from his teaching us to look for medical clues as in a mystery. I had the privilege to be employed by Dr. Hobbs after graduation and was able to appreciate his outstanding teaching methods, his anatomy museum, and the perseverance of "getting it right."
Frances Murphy Harrick '55 BS
Williamsburg, VA
My favorite professor was Charles Kinnaird
of the English department. He was the instructor for an elective
class entitled Words and Their Usage.
This class was probably one of the most challenging and demanding
classes during my four years at WVU but also one of the most
enjoyable due to the excellent teaching skills of Mr. Kinnaird.
He had a unique and wonderful way of motivating and encouraging
each of us to learn.
To explain: each class began with a quiz (spelling and usage)
on any ten words from previous lessons. At each class Mr. Kinnaird
introduced ten new related words, maybe of Latin derivation or
ten French words, maybe ten eponyms, etc. There was always attention
grabbing discussion of the history, spelling, and usage of the
words. At first it was relatively easy to manage the list, but
at the end of the first four weeks of classes we had a list of
120 words and the list kept growing.
My thanks and appreciation to Mr. Kinnarid for enriching my vocabulary
and my life with this elective class.
Marsha Sadowsky Stern '62 BS
Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Emil Frere was the professor who most influenced me during my studies at WVU. Dr. Frere encouraged his students to communicate in class using only French. Not only did Dr. Frere influence positively my productive usage of the French language, but he also instilled in me a desire to travel to France and become additionally acquainted with the culture of the country. At WVU I was awarded scholarships to study in France and later taught French. I now supervise second language education programs in the Harford County, MD, school district.
Harve Bennett '64 BS
Churchville, MD
My favorite professor was Dr. Wesley Bagby. He offered to be my thesis advisor for "Recognition of the Sovereignty of Tibet."
Dottie K. Alt '65 BA
Salt Lake City, UT
