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Why I Work/Teach at EMU
 

Jan. 18, 2005 issue

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At Eastern, I have a chance to create —  to start new programs, to work at a lot of different jobs and meet new people. Director of the honors program was probably the best job I've ever had. I created a scholarship, "The Founders Award," for the honors students to help them study abroad, which is important to me.

I like to teach because I am a ham. Teaching is an opportunity to create yourself and people around you. All of us have an organ inside, and we don't know what music is there until we try the stops. The same is true with students. When you reach them, they become enlarged, more confident and more proficient. They discover talents they didn't know they had.

I love EMU students and staff because they are very hard-working and committed to learning. They are diverse. They come from all over the world and each one brings something different to the feast. I like a nice stew.

I am approaching retirement and thinking about how I can stay involved and, maybe, help the University raise money for scholarships. I've worked closely with research development for the past 10 years and I would like to write some grants.

I'd like the University to have a faculty/staff club, just a meeting place where students and faculty can stop and get together. I'd like to witness the construction of a performing arts center; a new science building, which we need desperately; and a new building for the College of Technology. EMU students deserve the best.