Q. Is is time to say farewell?
A. Sadly, yes.
Five long-time Hendrix faculty who are either retiring at the end of the spring semester or are currently in phased retirement recently took the time to answer a set of probing questions asked by student writer Katie Rice ’10.
Here are a few of their responses to her questions, along with photos of the professors in their favorite spots on campus. You’ll find more questions and answers in the online version of Hendrix magazine at www.hendrix.edu/hendrixmagazine, where you’ll have an opportunity to share your memories of Professors Berry, Crowder, McAinsh, Rolleigh and Teague.
Dr. Richard Rolleigh ’67, professor of physics, has been a member of the Hendrix faculty since 1974.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I have many plans. I own four acres in the country, so there’s a lot of landscaping for me to do. I also plan to travel with my wife; we have already planned an African safari.
Aside from that, I’ll be conducting research that I couldn’t do while I was at Hendrix. I really only need myself and a good library to research general relativity and the theory of gravitation and quantum field theory: the standard model. Those projects weren’t amenable to undergraduate research, so I put them off.
I’ll also be a physics consultant for weapons development at UT Austin, working on smart missiles, for example. I investigate the physical theory behind their ideas, to see if the application is physically feasible. They deal with all the grant proposals and paperwork, and I do the physics. It’s very liberating.
Q. Describe the most memorable moment of your time at Hendrix?
A. I can’t choose a particular one, but nearly all have occurred in the classroom, or with a small group of students working in the physics study room. Physics is like art or music: the way you learn relies on having quick access to an expert, to critique you or help you when you’re stumped. In many of those instances, students have given me a new idea or a new insight.
Q. What is something that others would be surprised to find out about you?
A. I coached youth soccer for 20 years and really enjoyed it.
Q. What is your favorite place on campus and why?
A. The physics study room, because that’s where most of my memorable moments have happened, and where new ideas originated. The soccer field is also a favorite, because I started the women’s soccer team here in 1985 and coached it for several years.
Dr. Keith Berry ’73, professor of economics and business, a member of the Hendrix faculty since 1989.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I’m taking a phased retirement, so I’ll spend more of my time consulting for the Arkansas Public Service Commission about the regulation of utilities.
Q. Describe the most memorable moment of your time at Hendrix?
A. The campus is so enjoyable in spring. It’s very comfortable. I enjoy walking around campus in April and early May.
Q. What is something that others would be surprised to find out about you?
A. My favorite type of literature is science fiction. I read one or two sci-fi books each week. My favorite author is Robert Heinlein, who wrote Stranger in a Strange Land.
Q. What is your favorite place on campus and why?
A. I enjoy the turtle pond area by the gazebo. When I was a student it had lots of landscaping and vegetation, and it’s still a very nice place to walk.
Q. Why did you choose to teach at Hendrix?
A. I went to school here, and I felt comfortable with the small college, liberal arts atmosphere. The intellectual quality is high, so I don’t have to worry about offering remedial work. I also appreciated the opportunities for meeting students outside of class. For example, I led a group of students on the third Odyssey to China last summer.
Dr. A. Bland Crowder, M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Emeritus Professor of English, has been a member of the Hendrix faculty since 1974.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I’m in the midst of a phased retirement; I teach during the spring semesters. Last fall I tried to fix up my old house I’ve been neglecting, refinishing my front door and creating a new flower bed in the front. I did manual labor for three or four hours each day, and then read on my front porch for the rest of the day. Next fall, I’ll be visiting my hometown of Richmond, Va. I’m also considering writing a biography of William Styron, who was a writer for the Newport News who died this year.
Q. Describe the most memorable moment of your time at Hendrix?
A. In one of my classes, we read a Robert Browning play called Pippa Passes. Browning misused a word, thinking it referred to a nun’s headgear, rather than an intimate anatomical part. That’s how innocent the Victorians were. We later read a Browning poem called “Count Gismond,” and we were discussing critical views of the poem. One critic considered the poem very sexual, and my student Emily Parker blurted out, “That’s ridiculous! Browning doesn’t even know what a _____ is!” We laughed for almost fifteen minutes.
Q. What is something that others would be surprised to find out about you?
A. I’m a card-carrying member of the A.C.L.U.
Q. What is your favorite place on campus and why?
A. I can tell you my least favorite place is the brick patio, where we used to hold graduation while it was 100 degrees in the sun. We were sitting there in our hot, black robes, with no shade at all. My favorite place, though, is the Wallyball court.
Dr. Garrett McAinsh, Harold and Lucy Cabe Distinguished Professor of History, has been a member of the Hendrix faculty since 1970.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I’ll be doing volunteer work at the Butler Center, and other places. I’ve found a second career lecturing on cruise ships, talking about the history of the places we’re about to visit. It’s not a paid position, but the trips are free for myself and my wife. My retired life will be “academic lite” – I don’t have plans to write a book or anything.
Q. Describe the most memorable moment of your time at Hendrix?
A. I’ll always remember my time as the head of the Social Sciences, in the late ’80s. It was my opportunity to really contribute to the life of the College.
Q. What is something that others would be surprised to find out about you?
A. What you see is what you get, I’m afraid. But my biggest disappointment about myself is that I really tried to learn French and just couldn’t get it.
Q. What is your favorite place on campus and why?
A. I love the Wallyball court in the Mabee Center, because I love Wallyball.
Dr. Warfield Teague, Willis H. Holmes Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has been a member of the Hendrix faculty since 1970.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I have two grandchildren and family in Missouri and Delaware. I plan on travelling to see them with my wife and dogs. Other than that, fishing and golf. I’ll be working part time, two weeks a month, as a consultant for the Office of Education at NASA in D.C. I’ll run the university research grants program.
Q. Describe the most memorable moment of your time at Hendrix?
A. When I was in college, I was invited to a ballgame in Little Rock by a friend who went to Hendrix. He assured me that most Hendrix students went home for the weekend, and that there would be an extra bed available. It turned out that everyone else on campus must have brought a friend that weekend, because I ended up sleeping on couch cushions on the pool table in Martin.
Q. What is something that others would be surprised to find out about you?
A. I like to think I’m fairly up-front, but people might be surprised by my domestic skills. I use biscuits as the coin of the realm. I bake them in the teacher’s lounge of MC Reynolds and give them as presents to butter people up. I also know how to sew. When my daughter was younger, I made her jeans in every color. I could clear the table off after dinner, get out the sewing machine, and she’d have a new pair to wear the next day.
Q. What is your favorite place on campus and why?
A. It’s the lab, because of the work I do with students. Especially the Advanced Technology and Experimental Chemistry lab. The students come up with the most interesting research initiatives. It’s very fun.