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Winter 07 Web Bonus Feature
Henry Black, mechanical engineering My favorite Professor at ISU was Henry Black. But my association with Henry goes back much further. In the 1920s my father was an instructor in the engineering “shops” at ISC, teaching engineering students some of the “hands on” applications of their engineering theory. I was in grade school but my father often took me on the ISC campus or invited students to our home for dinner. Henry was one of those students. When I enrolled at ISC in 1950 Henry was head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. He remembered me and gave me a great deal of encouragement and help, which I needed, being married with three children and limited finances. As head he did little actual teaching. He did have a “no-credit-but-required” one -hour-per-week class in “orientation” designed to acquaint students with the many different areas of engineering. And he realized that I had been working in sub-engineering jobs for 15 years and so had a good handle on what I needed. So he asked me to talk to the class one time about my work experience and gave me credit for the course. Later, he recommended me for sorely needed scholarships and encouraged me throughout. I will always remember him for the example he set as a friend, mentor, scholar, and gentleman. Henry Black is remembered fondly by many students and staff and has his name on one of the newer engineering buildings on campus. So I am not alone in my admiration and appreciation of this man. -------------------- Clair “Doc” Watson, architecture It has been impossible to narrow my selection to one outstanding mentor at Iowa State University. From the many possibilities, it is with special pleasure that I commend both Clair “Doc” Watson, an outstanding professor in architecture, and Marjorie Garfield, chair of applied art. Clair Watson served as my adviser and basic design instructor in my chosen career of architecture. He demonstrated a passion for teaching and displayed an interest in my personal growth as an artist in the process. I found Doc to be genuinely invested in my education. In my sophomore year following major surgery at Mary Greeley Hospital, he appeared during my recovery period to keep me abreast of the work being done in the classroom. Outside of the classroom Doc served as adviser to Stars Over Veishea and he encouraged the development of my theatrical endeavors as scenic designer for Wonderful Town and The Music Man. I discovered sometime during my fourth year that I could no longer achieve my long-held goal of becoming an architect because of my own limitations. I felt totally lost about how to proceed with my education. It was Doc Watson who stepped in and with the assistance of Marjorie Garfield gave me a new direction. Miss Garfield generously devised a plan that would allow me to utilize my architecture background to achieve an interior design degree at the conclusion of only one full year in her program. At times of reflection like this I am reminded of how much my life was enriched by such outstanding mentors and educators. My 37-year career in educational theatre at North Dakota State University was shaped by outstanding role models at Iowa State University. -------------------- John G. Holt, microbiology Dr. Holt, along with being a professor at ISU, was the editor in chief of Bergy’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. This, even today, is the bible for bacterial identification. I even helped proofread parts of it! Dr. Holt, with Dr. Williams, also taught Micro 320. This course was designed to teach independent thought in medical research – ultimately my chosen field. This course WAS the turning point in my educational thought process. It brought me to where I am today. Dr. Holt made this extremely tough course fun and gave it purpose for me. I grew to appreciate and respect Dr. Holt’s humor with a purpose, and his “I’m not going to give you anything” – yet point me in the right direction, even though at the time I did not know it – attitude. I still have a great amount of respect for Dr. Holt. I hope he is doing well today! Honorable mentions: Dr. Williams and Dr. Durand of the Microbiology Department in 1983. -------------- Professor Pearl Hogrefe, creative writing In 1945, when I was a senior at Ames High School, we had a contest to choose the best from among many pieces we had written about Russian authors. I had written a long narrative poem as my entry and, to my complete surprise it won. Professor Pearl Hogrefe was among the judges and when she gave me my award, she was kind enough to say she hoped to see more of me in college. I was smitten, and applied for admittance in as many of her courses in creative writing as my schedule would permit. She taught me how to express myself with written words in an honest, clear way, with not one word too many. She also taught me to write about the things in my life that had special meaning to me and to convey why those things were important. While a senior, I became editor of Sketch magazine, which at that time was Iowa State College’s quarterly creative writing magazine. It was rewarding to work under her and to learn to manage a group in order to put out a quality product, as well as to negotiate with others to produce consensus and a feeling of accomplishment. She hoped I would continue my writing after college and I have, though not always and not to the extent she would have hoped for. I got married, brought up four children and along the way have written hundreds of newsletters, grant applications and policy statements, two textbooks and an un-numbered stash of personal memoirs and poetry. All of them, to some degree, bear the stamp of honest and succinct self-expression which she so carefully and thoroughly taught me. ------------------- Frank Brandt, theatre When we talk about faculty who changed our lives, I would have to include Frank Brandt, who continued to change my life right up until he died two years ago. Mr. Brandt, who I continued to call by his full name until I was in my sixties, taught public speaking and headed the theater at Iowa State when I was an undergraduate in the 1940s. I jumped at the chance to be in a play under his direction and hovered around the old theater building working on sets and props whenever I could. His firm control and his attention to detail assured successful productions. We were all pretty proud of ourselves. Many years later we both lived near each other in New Mexico, where, I discovered, Frank was also known for his fine amateur productions in Deming and elsewhere. We became friends and I finally learned to call him Frank! Iowa State invited him to come back and direct a play for alumni weekend in June of 1999 and Frank got the idea of getting some of his old students together for one more go at Our Town. How exciting it was to be picked for a role! We all gathered at the campus in late May for three weeks of rehearsal. We alumni were all ages, came from all over the country and most had never known each other before. But we worked well as a team, and, of course, we were all used to Frank’s high standards and expectations. We played to a sell-out audience. I heard some of the audience say they would drive all across Iowa to see a Frank Brandt production! It was such a thrill to be part of that occasion! The following year, Frank Ferguson, who played the Stage Manager in Our Town, requested that Frank direct a performance of A.R. Gurney’s play, Love Letters. It is a play with just two characters in it and he suggested himself for one of them and me for the other. Frank Brandt consented. The play was billed as a benefit for the historical museum in Deming, N.M., where Frank lived and was a board member. We also performed it in Las Cruces, N.M., where I live, for Valentine's Day less than a week later. Once again, I got to experience the thrill of participating in a hard job and watching it come together under his careful guidance. He was then well into his eighties, but no easier to satisfy than when I first worked under him in 1946. That was Frank Brandt’s last play. It was my great privilege to be a part of it. ------------------------------------ Elizabeth Beck, University Honors Program Director Anne Campbell, history and interdisciplinary studies 1998 Jen Schaffer and Anne Campbell believe that Iowa State University gave them both outstanding opportunities to explore academia, their personal interests, and the world. In conversations over the years, these friends and college roommates have realized that many of these opportunities were offered by University Honors Program director Elizabeth Beck. Anne: “As a freshman at Iowa State, Liz suggested that I consider attending the National Collegiate Honors Conference in Pittsburgh. The conference agenda included structured time to explore specific neighborhoods, focusing on the social order and community resources. My afternoon outing not only sparked my interest in local development and civil society, but I was also fortunate to have unexpectedly conversed with Andy Warhol’s brother. Understanding a community by listening to its residents is a valuable skill, one that I use now in supporting small-scale, international development projects. This is one example of how Liz’s encouragement to explore, ask questions, and be curious has shaped my life. Thank you Liz for your encouragement!” Jen: “My first interaction with Liz occurred as a prospective student. At the time, I had no idea that she would shape my life as the director of the Honors Program, my boss, my mentor, and now as my dear friend. Despite her different roles that in my life, one theme has been consistent. With her passion and enthusiasm, she constantly instills in students that they can accomplish ANYTHING in the world. I have seen my honors colleagues travel the world, do groundbreaking research on AIDS, work for Fortune 500 companies, and join the Peace Corps. But, more importantly, they have followed their life passions and made their communities and the world a better place. It is no coincidence that students who work with Liz often go on to careers in higher education like I have. My sense is that we hope we can have a fraction of the impact on students Liz has had.” ------------------------ Beth Collins, English It was English 205 during the fall of 1996, and I was entering my freshman year. Since attending a summer enrichment program called the Carver Academy, I was confident that I could carry that success over into the fall semester. However, the transition from home to Iowa State had stirred up so many foreign emotions during a time I felt a little overwhelmed. My instructor was Beth Collins, a graduate student who reminded me of a high school teacher that I left behind. “She was a tailgater for English.” She was old enough to be my mother and she noted that she was indeed a mother. Her approach was very stern yet her teaching style was caring hence the motherly touch. English had me exposed and she noticed my struggles but would not allow me to settle for mediocrity. I can vividly remember how Ms. Collins made me re-write one paper five times until I was able to comprehend a rhetoric analysis. This process lasted for about four weeks. I would visit the English writing lab on the fourth floor of Ross Hall twice weekly when students were only allowed one weekly session, but I was persistent. Ms. Collins made Iowa State very small and personal for me during some trying times but being able to find solace through my words made some of those times easy. She introduced me to the most powerful method of communication that became invaluable as I was awarded over $20,000 in scholarships over the course of my college career. She changed my life because she taught me how to express myself without even being heard and when heard, how to be effective with those words that I chose and now I say thank you to Ms. Beth Collins for making Iowa State a special place. ------------------- Hester Chadderdon, home economics education “Are you going to get this right or do I have to read the article myself?’ I was writing my review of literature for my dissertation and trying to explain the reported validity and reliability of an instrument used in a research project. Dr. Hester Chadderdon had little sympathy with incompetence, even if the best intensions were in evidence. When turning in the paper with my answer to the psychology prelim question I was given, I said, “I failed that exam.” She replied, “That is not for you to decide.” Although she was a “no nonsense” person, she was also most supportive of her students. Hester Chadderdon came to Iowa State in 1929 and taught here for 40 years. She was one of the early contributors in the field of evaluation in home economics education. In 1935 she wrote, “In the future we shall need more, not less, measurement, but used for broader purposes than to indicate grades.” Hester Chadderdon was truly proud of the graduates whose work she directed. Of the 17 PhDs she guided, ten became college administrators, one a chief of vocational education in Puerto Rico, and six became professors and research workers. Throughout her professional career and into her retirement years, she remained an avid baseball fan, reader, and traveler. She was an inspiration to young and old alike. Even at 91 she was a joy to visit. She left a legacy well worth emulating. --------------------- Rod Fox, journalism Rod Fox taught the beginning reporting sequence in the 1940s. What I learned in his class, I’ve used a lifetime. First he said, “I’ll give you a month to learn to think on a typewriter. If you can’t do it by then, you flunk this course.’” Rod stressed accuracy. “Be sure of the spelling of a person’s name or of a place.” Next, he took us to a room in the Memorial Union. Was it once a month? I can’t remember. He tossed up an idea. For an hour – or was it two hours? – we batted an idea back and forth. In the end, each of us put the ingredients together like in a loaf of bread to form how we felt about the subject. Rod started me doing this. I’ve spent a lifetime batting ideas back and forth. Luckily, I found a man who liked to do this, too. We’d hunt references that backed up our stance on a subject. It taught me to keep an open mind, to hunt for the many sides of any subject, to listen to other peoples’ opinions, to take part in our political life (which included working for Alaskan Statehood). When the Norwegian I met at Iowa State College persuaded me to marry him, he took me to Alaska. Here I started my freelance writing career. Finally, I collected my many articles into a book called, Following the Alaskan Dream: My Salmon Trolling Adventures in the Last Frontier. I wish I could have said, “Thanks, Rod, I used all that you taught me in that year’s reporting class to freelance write.” --------------- Robert M. Melampy, animal science During spring quarter of my sophomore year, 1964, Robert Melampy called with an invitation to interview for a summer job. Based on a conversation with my adviser Dr. Emmit Haynes, Melampy understood that I was looking for a position. Instructions to his office for the interview should have signaled Robert Melampy’s idiosyncrasies: “On the first floor of Curtiss Hall, face the elevator, look to your right; through the small door take the stairs; the first door at the bottom is the custodians’ room; proceed down the hall to the last door. Beyond this door is an unfinished section of Curtiss Hall.” I accepted the offer to work as an animal care technician, glassware washer, etc. and was introduced to research and reproductive biology. The experiences of that summer led to participation in the Honors Program, an undergraduate research project with Dr. Lloyd Anderson, graduate school under Melampy’s supervision, and a research career in animal reproduction. Dr. Robert Melampy was a controversial individual with a demanding personality. Today he would be regarded as “old school” – not much room for compromise. He instilled the strong work ethic proclaimed by my parents as essential for survival. After completion of my academic training, Robert Melampy became a friend and supporter. His introductions led to postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School that provided interactions with individuals who became life-long associates. In retrospect, that phone call in the spring of 1964 defined my professional destiny. ------------ Roger Murphy, College of Business Roger was a tremendous teacher, adviser, and friend. He was a great classroom lecturer who most often taught advanced level classes. If you attended his class, you did not need the textbook. He broke down the most complex problems into simple and manageable subtext. In the 1980s, Roger established a governmental internship program providing “real world” experiences for more than 100 students. My internship was my main selling point during senior interviews. I credit his internship program solely with receiving multiple job offers. Post graduation, I was a recruiter for KPMG-Peat Marwick and gained a full appreciation for what Roger did, not just for me but all ISU students. As an alum and recruiter, I learned it wasn’t just ISU kids competing against one another for the job; the competition included students from Drake, UNI, Iowa, etc. Roger’s “real world” internships distinguished the ISU students as a cut above. Further, Roger made it his job to know all college recruiters. His opinion carried significant weight with the recruiters. He spoke so highly of all ISU kids. I doubt any of them ever knew Roger was their biggest advocate with prospective employers – it was all done behind the scenes. Roger was extremely generous with his time and resources for extracurricular activities as well. He was a faculty adviser for numerous campus clubs: accounting, skydiving, and skiing, to name a few. If an Accounting Club could be made fun, it was Roger Murphy. My roommates were non-business majors but regularly attended Accounting Club meetings!!! The Water Ski Club had access to his condo at Clear Lake. Every accounting major remembers the rite of passage to attend the annual senior graduation party at Roger’s Ames residence. Roger Murphy changed the lives of hundreds of students, not just mine!!
Dr. J.C. Schilletter, horticulture One of the outstanding professors at Iowa State who had a significant impact on my life was Dr. J.C. “Shorty” Schilletter. During my 1941-42 freshman year, I first met Dr. Schilletter while taking Horticulture 101 under his leadership. On one occasion, we were at the apple orchard learning how to properly prune apple trees. After outlining basic pruning principles, I recall his comment, “If in doubt about pruning a certain branch, cut it off!” He had a keen philosophical bent, along with his instruction, crafting his teaching for positive and lasting impact. He had a genuine appreciation for each student. His encouraging assurances were a very special blessing to me, and, no doubt, many other students as well. In 1942, Dr. Schilletter was appointed the director of housing for Iowa State. He oversaw the development of Pammel Court as well as other important housing projects. When I returned to Iowa State in the fall of 1946, following three years service in the U.S. Army WWII, Dr. Schilletter made special effort providing a place for me to live in a converted handball court under the East Stadium Clyde Williams Field. My wife and I were married in September 1948. There continued to be a critical housing shortage, especially for married couples. Seeking to fill a need for us, Dr. Schilletter, along with his staff, found an upstairs apartment in a farm home southwest from the college. After settling in our upstairs three-room abode, one of my wife’s first culinary experiences in our small kitchenette was to bake a fresh rhubarb pie for Dr. Schilletter. Dr. J.C. Schilletter shall remain among my fondest memories of Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). -------------- Archie Higdon, engineering I learned to draw free-body diagrams at Iowa State. When I finished taking dynamics in spring quarter 1949 from Professor Archie Higdon, I was good at it. He always started every example problem by drawing a free-body diagram. Often he sent us all to the blackboard to work a problem. He would go around the room helping those who were slow in arriving at the answer. Dynamics led me to take mechanical vibrations as an elective when I was a senior in 1950 majoring in civil engineering. As graduation approached, I checked the bulletin boards. The Ohio State Department of Engineering Mechanics had an opening for a graduate assistant. I filled out an application; Higdon had his secretary type a letter of recommendation. I attached the sealed letter to my application. As an afterthought, I also attached a sheet that Iowa State supplied me with The Bomb, which included my graduation picture, my parents’ mailing address, and other vital statistics. One ay Professor Ott came out of his office into the outer office of the Engineering Mechanics Department. He had my application in one hand and a second application in the other. He approached his secretary, Alice Lewis, and asked which applicant to hire. She said, “The tall one.” I married Alice Lewis on June 10, 1951. I got my MS in engineering mechanics from Iowa State in August 1951. The staff at Ohio State recommended me for an instructor position in engineering mechanics at Cornell University where I got my PhD in 1956. Whether Alice Lewis or Archie Higdon had more influence on Professor Ott’s decision to award me the graduate assistantship remains an open question. --------------- Jane Peterson, journalism No one has had more profound impact on my life than journalism professor Jane Peterson. I met Jane when I attended an ISU journalism workshop in 1984 – the summer prior to my senior year at Des Moines Hoover High School. The personal attention I received at Iowa State was such a vast contrast from my experience at the University of Iowa journalism camp the previous summer. After attending the ISU workshop, I knew where I wanted to go to college – and Jane played a huge role in that decision. Jane was my undergraduate academic adviser. When I chose to get my master’s degree in journalism at Iowa State, I asked Jane to be my major professor. I finished my classroom work for my master’s degree in 1992 and then took a full-time job in the ISU Athletic Department. Jane stopped by my office during the summer of 1995 and “strongly encouraged” me to finish my creative component. Thanks to her guidance, I graduated with a master’s degree in December 1995. When I left the Athletic Department in July 2000, Jane helped me get a job at Wells Fargo. After I left Wells Fargo in September 2004, Jane contacted me to see if I was interested in teaching in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. I’ve taught since the spring 2005 semester. I thoroughly enjoy teaching and the opportunity to give back to a university that has given so much to me. And Jane continues to be a mentor for me in the Greenlee School. Little did I know the relationship that began in 1984 would have such an influence on my life more than 22 years later. Jane Peterson is an Iowa State faculty member who changed (and continues to change) my life. -------------------- I'm a 99' Grad of ISU Horticulture. Wayne was my advisor. We never talked a whole lot, but he gave me some of the most sound advice I've ever received. He was nearing his retirement as I was graduation. Probably the most unorganized professors I knew, but he had passion for telling stories that would somehow relate to what he was teaching. You ask what the advice was.....One day in our landscape Seven years later, I still treasure that advice, and sometimes give it to other college students who think they know it all. Priceless!! -------------------- |
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(877) ISU-ALUM (478-2586) | alumni@iastate.edu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bonus alumni essays: “The professor who changed my life”
