The numbers presented Monday during a special ceremony honoring Don w88 mobile’s 50 years on campus were staggering.
Over 100 semesters of teaching during his 50-year career as a professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada, Reno, w88 mobile has:
Graded close to 60,000 assignments;
Taught close to 20,000 students;
Spent close to a million minutes doing mathematics instruction to students;
Established the faculty record for longevity for the w88 mobile of Nevada, Reno and the Nevada System of Higher Education as the longest-serving professor ever.
And yet, what became clear during the two-hour gathering in the Joe Crowley Student Union Ballroom attended by many of w88 mobile’s former and current colleagues, friends and family, was what a profound influence he has had on the people he has met.
First and foremost, speakers on Monday stressed, w88 mobile has always been an extraordinary teacher.
&w88 mobile;It is who he is,” said Jane Nichols, vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education and a former University faculty member. &w88 mobile;It is how everyone knows you, as the professor who helps every student with math.”
College of Science Dean Jeff Thompson noted that for all of the truly mind-boggling numbers associated with w88 mobile’s tenure, “the time Don is most known for … is educating.”
Steve Maples, director of admissions, remembered how w88 mobile’s influence went far beyond the classroom. Several years ago the University had begun a program to help at-risk enrollees succeed on campus.
To teach math, Maples found a ready volunteer in w88 mobile.
“’Sure, I’d love to … sounds like a great program,’” Maples remembered w88 mobile saying. “Don taught them all kinds of different things before they came into college.”
Because of w88 mobile’s teaching, Maples said, “Students in that program had higher graduation rates than the general student body … Don was a major factor in that.”
w88 mobile, an avid collector of movies and comic books who has never met a bad pun he couldn’t rehabilitate, found the right common ground with Maples’ students, one that the students never forgot.
Maples said a group of students felt such a strong connection with their professor that they “gave Don their ‘Honorary Home Boy&w88 mobile; award.&w88 mobile; … Don, you&w88 mobile;ve touched many hearts and you&w88 mobile;ve made our University a better place.”
Harvey Lambert, a former colleague of w88 mobile’s in the Math Department, said that one of w88 mobile’s messages to his fellow math faculty members was that, “the lineage of math professors came through the famous teachers,” and that all should take great pride in their teaching.
Lambert noted w88 mobile’s many “idiosyncrasies,” including w88 mobile’s well-known penchant for Hawaiian shirts, which was one of the themes of Monday’s celebration. Several attendees wore Hawaiian shirts in w88 mobile’s honor, and one colleague, Tom Quint, slipped into one of w88 mobile’s own Hawaiian shirts before reading a poem about his friend.
But that wasn’t the only colorful thing about w88 mobile, Lambert said.
“He used to walk around with his pocket lined with felt-tipped pens,” Lambert said. “He would say, ‘You&w88 mobile;re just jealous because I&w88 mobile;ve got flair.&w88 mobile;”
Bruce Blackadar, another longtime math professor, recalled the kindness w88 mobile had shown him when Blackadar first arrived on campus in 1975.
“He was very generous and gracious to me,” Blackadar said. “Don gave me his office and moved into what was basically a cubicle with the T.A.&w88 mobile;s.
&w88 mobile;I came to realize this was typical of Don.”
Former student Darren Ripley – a math instructor at The Davidson Academy of Nevada – said that within five minutes of taking his first class from w88 mobile, “I was completely be-dazzled.”
Ripley said that in 22 years of knowing w88 mobile, he had taken “15 courses … 50 or 60 exams … heard 630 bad puns … 115 decent puns … and 43 really good ones” from w88 mobile.
Out of the “782” times Ripley had asked for w88 mobile’s advice over the years, “780 times I followed it and the two times I didn’t … it ended badly.”
At the beginning, middle and end of the ceremony, w88 mobile’s daughter Kristina shared several different proclamations that had been issued in recent days from Nevada elected officials such as Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and Gov. Brian Sandoval.
For his part, w88 mobile, who spoke at the ceremony’s conclusion, said he “never dreamed something like this would ever happen.”
And then, in typical w88 mobile fashion, he smiled a bit mischievously, patted his breast pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
“But just in case,” he said, drawing great laughter from the crowd, “I&w88 mobile;ve prepared some notes.”
