Sep 9, 2009
Robert Kaita, Plasma Physics Princeton [Sept 13, 2009]– There’s an old joke that goes like this. Milk production at a dairy farm was low, so the dairyman wrote to a local university, asking for help from academia. A multidisciplinary team of professors was...
May 1, 2009
Sam Matteson, Physics, University of North Texas [ May 1, 2009 ] —“Dr. Matteson, will you please say ‘grace’?” All eyes turned toward me (the chairman) when Sharon, my new staff member who had coordinated the departmental Christmas potluck, asked this. I paused...
Mar 6, 2009
Sam Matteson, Physics University of North Texas “What have I gotten myself into?” I had just agreed to be one of four panelists at my university discussing “Science and Faith” before an audience of undergraduates. I wasn’t bothered by the inclusion of a colleague from...
Feb 1, 2009
Sam Matteson Professor of Physics University of North Texas “Have you ever thought of being a chair or a dean? You have the instincts for it,” the associate dean remarked to me one day in his office. “No I haven’t, but thank you . . . I think,” I said. But I thought,...
Nov 1, 2008
John Marson Dunaway French & Interdisciplinary Studies Mercer University, Macon, GA Sometimes I am not a very sensitive guy. As Director of the Center for Faith, Learning, and Vocation at a faith-based institution, I’ve been leading a one-week summer workshop on...
Mar 19, 2007
Jim Gerdeen, Prof. Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering Michigan Tech; Univ. of Colorado “Dump the Dean.” It was a topic of daily conversation in the hallways, distracting us from our academic work and research. The dean was being blamed for mismanagement of funds, being...
