Faculty Focus Archive
- Tim Bonenfant, Music
- Gil Engdahl, Agriculture
- Mary Ellen Hartje, English
- Tom Bankston, Accounting, Economics and Finance
- Susan Keith, Kinesiology
- Sudhir Chawla, Marketing
- Kathleen Price, Kinesiology
- Norm Sunderman, Accounting
- Judith Hakes, Education
- Shirley Eoff, History
- Roger Zarnowski, Mathematics
- Bonnie Amos, Biology
All That Jazz
Dr. Tim Bonenfant has encountered some interesting and famous people during his professional career.
On that path, he also found a natural career choice that led him to become an assistant professor of music at ASU.
“I grew up with music around me,” Bonenfant said. “I didn’t understand why everybody in the world didn’t play music, because that was just the way I grew up.”
His dad was a drummer for the U.S. Naval Academy Band and his brother also took up the drums. Bonenfant, who teaches single reeds at ASU, settled on the clarinet. He developed a good foundation through studies with a couple of Navy musicians, and later, with his high school bands in Virginia and Maryland and at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I always knew that I was fairly good at playing,” he said. “When I finally got to the point where there were people better than me, that’s when I had to really start working and not relying on whatever natural talent I may have had.”
At UNLV, Bonenfant worked his way into the university’s jazz ensemble.
“I played with a lot of different folks then, like Joe Williams, the former singer with the Count Basie Band, who lived in Las Vegas and performed with the band a lot,” Bonenfant said. “I also played with Louie Bellson, who was a great drummer, and Don Menza, who played with a lot of bands, like Buddy Rich’s.”
“I also worked with a marching jazz band at Disneyland one summer while I was still attending UNLV,” Bonenfant said. “They brought in folks like Bobby Shew and Gary Foster, some really heavyweight studio players, to work with the band a week at a time.”
Bonenfant moved to California in 1985 where he attended the California Institute of the Arts, working on a master’s degree and picking up some more musical experience.
Bonenfant moved back to Las Vegas as assistant to the conductor and as operations manager with the Las Vegas Symphony until it ceased operations due to financial difficulties. He then began teaching at UNLV, first in jazz history and then rock history while playing with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
Between playing with the Philharmonic and freelancing with orchestras put together for special events, Bonenfant performed with renowned Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti four times, Pavarotti’s countryman Andrea Bocelli, also a tenor, classical and pop singer Charlotte Church and Spanish tenor Placido Domingo.
At other times, Bonenfant expanded his musical horizons by playing with composer-pianist Marvin Hamlisch, Broadway star Tommy Tune, Peter Schickele (also known as PDQ Bach), the Village People and the Moody Blues.
He even played with one big name by chance.
“Dudley Moore (actor, noted pianist) was playing a fundraiser with the Las Vegas Symphony for the Nevada Ballet Theatre,” Bonenfant said. “I ended up playing the big clarinet solo at the beginning of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ after my teacher, Felix Viscuglia, started to play and nothing came out of his horn.”
“A pad had fallen out, so he just turned to me and said, ‘here, play.’ So, on the spur of the moment, with no sleep the night before because I had been up all night copying music for another concert, I’m playing this solo,” Bonenfant said. “Fortunately, it’s one of those solos that I really can play in my sleep. Felix said, ‘OK, you did the rehearsal, so you should do the concert.’ So, I ended up playing with Dudley Moore.”
Bonenfant also crossed paths with some “names” from the music world after he arrived at ASU.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve played with contemporary Christian singer Sandi Patty and Monica Mancini (composer-conductor Henry Mancini’s daughter),” he said.
ASU came to Bonenfant’s attention as a possible employer while he was still writing his dissertation after his father sent him a list of eight places that had clarinet openings.
“I ended up getting the job I wanted and I’ve been here ever since,” Bonenfant said. “Every year seems to have gotten better. My colleagues are great. It’s very rare when you run into a department where you get along with almost everybody.”
Interested in a career in music?
Leader of the Herd
For more than 30 years, Dr. Gil Engdahl has been helping shape the Angelo State Agriculture Department and its students.
A native of West Texas, Engdahl grew up on a stock farm near Brady, where he still holds about 1,000 acres of farm and ranch land. While his university education took him out of the area to Texas A&M, he came back as soon as he could, joining the ASU faculty in 1976 for his first job out of college.
“To me it was a nice challenge starting out,” Engdahl said. “Back in the mid-70s, ASU was just getting cranked up as a four-year school. We spent a lot of time getting the sheep and goat program going and that was a lot of fun.”
In light of his Aggie education, Engdahl took a big chance coming to Angelo State, passing up a job as a livestock specialist with the Texas A&M Extension Service to join ASU’s fledgling agriculture program.
“It was a lot more of a challenge to come to a new program and try to be a part of growing it into something that we could really be proud of,” Engdahl said. “To me, it has been more fun to do that than to go to an established program. We have as good a program as a lot of big schools.”
In addition to teaching classes, Engdahl has been head of the Agriculture Department since 1997. During his tenure he also helped start the student Block and Bridle Club and was instrumental in the formation of the multi-award-winning student livestock judging and wool judging teams.
His office is literally crammed with awards for his service to FFA (Future Farmers of America), 4-H clubs, the Block and Bridle Club and the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. He also received the 2008 Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award for the College of Sciences from the ASU Alumni Association.
“When you have been with the school as long as I have, it is part of your life,” Engdahl said. “To be honored for coming in and having fun for 30-plus years, maybe I should be giving someone else an award for allowing me to do that.”
One major factor that has kept Engdahl at ASU is the university’s Management, Instruction and Research (MIR) Center, more commonly known as the ASU Ranch. Located off U.S. Highway 87 just north of San Angelo, the MIR Center includes 6,000 acres of farm and ranch land that is home to a multitude of wildlife, a herd of Angus cattle, Boer and Angora goats, and Rambouillet, Suffolk and “hair” sheep. It also houses the Food Safety and Product Development Lab and ASU Meat Market.
“It is really a remarkable thing for a small school to have a facility like that,” Engdahl said. “Most schools, even Division I schools, don’t have a ranch where students can go and get hands-on experience. It really helps us build a solid program for our students.”
Getting to know students in ASU’s more intimate classroom and office settings is also something Engdahl has enjoyed over his many years at the university.
“Sometime I think you should have a degree in psychology for this job instead of animal science, though,” Engdahl said. “I talk to students about boyfriend-girlfriend problems, school problems, financial problems and the list goes on. You try to help them any way you can and I like that about ASU, because it is small enough to where we can still do a lot of interaction with the students.”
He also likes being close to his place in Brady, where he spends most of his spare time when he is not on a golf course somewhere. But, regardless of how or why, Engdahl and ASU have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship that is now well into its fourth decade.
“I’ve had several land grant schools offer me jobs over the years,” Engdahl said. “But, I just didn’t care to leave. ASU is a good school and I’ve had a good run here.”
Interested in a career in agriculture?
Dr. Mary Ellen Hartje: Woman of Letters
The secret to success as a teacher is enthusiasm for the work, said Dr. Mary Ellen Hartje, an ASU English professor.
“It’s like inspiration,” she said. “It’s either there or not.”
Hartje said students feed off enthusiasm and absorb whatever the teacher is trying to impart to them. She tries to instill in students an interest in English literature and writing skills, and hopefully, her passion for language arts.
“My desire to teach is just a part of who I am,” Hartje said. “It’s a natural thing that I do that fulfills me. If you are going to spend most of your days doing what you choose, it is so much better if it’s something that you truly love.”
Hartje loves literature and teaches it from the sophomore level up to graduate classes.
“At any level,” she said, “I try to get students to have an open mind and read literature analytically; I want them to engage in a discussion between themselves and what they are reading – to really get at what’s there.”
Her passion for teaching has earned her multiple teaching honors.
Hartje was the Distinguished Faculty Achievement recipient from the College of Liberal and Fine Arts for 2008. She received the ASU Teaching Excellence Award in 2002 and was named to “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2004-05.
Hartje tries to impress upon students that literature is more than class work.
“Literature is a reflection of our lives, no matter when it was written,” she said. “It reflects the human experience. Students come to literature class thinking it is just stuff they have to read. They do catch on that it is really about them and it becomes very relevant by the end of the semester.”
Hartje’s specialty is 19th century British literature with a focus on the romantic poets, such as Wordsworth, Keats and Coleridge. She is also partial to Victorian poet Robert Browning and teaches Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” at the sophomore level.
“What inspires me is literature – poetry, novels and nonfiction,” Hartje said. “It tells us about our lives, our history and the choices we make as human beings. It tells us about relationships. It’s the world recorded for us in story form or poetry.”
She looks forward to each new term.
“Every semester, I have a new set of classes and a new set of students,” Hartje said. “I like teaching some of the same things over and over, but I also like to teach new things I haven’t taught before, so I challenge myself.”
Besides her favorite 19th century British literature, Hartje also can teach American literature, contemporary works, novels and poems.
“That’s very challenging to me since my area is British literature,” she said, “but it’s great fun.”
If it sounds like Hartje loves to teach, it’s because she does.
“I do love it,” she said. “I’ve loved it since I was a little girl. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do and that’s what I’ve always done.”
Hartje taught high school English at Miles and San Angelo Lake View high schools before coming to ASU to work on a master’s degree. She taught at ASU for a couple of years and then went to Baylor for a Ph.D.
In addition to her teaching, Hartje serves on numerous departmental and university committees. She is the Chair of the ASU Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton, and she is the General Editor of Concho River Review, a literary journal.
When she isn’t teaching composition and literature, Hartje enjoys spending time outdoors, particularly puttering around in her yard. She also loves sharing as much time as she can with her family – three grown daughters, three sons-in-law, and her 2-year-old grandson.
Dr. Tom Bankston – Accounting, Economics and Finance
In his 35 years at ASU, Dr. Tom Bankston has gone from not necessarily wanting to be a professor to garnering awards for his teaching and dedication to students.
A San Angelo native, Bankston started his working life as an economist for Phillips Petroleum. But, after earning his Ph.D. in 1974, he faced a career crossroad and decided to turn down the path that led to teaching.
“There were more jobs available teaching than there were industry jobs for a Ph.D. in business and economics with a major in finance,” Bankston said. “I started looking for a job and there was an opening at Angelo State for a finance professor and I thought it would be fun to go home for a few years. So, I’ve been here for the rest of my life.”
Currently a professor of finance and head of the Accounting, Economics and Finance Department, Bankston also served as interim dean of the College of Business in 2006-07. In 2008 he was honored with the ASU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award.
“Flabbergasted, stunned, amazed, I was all of those,” Bankston said. “It is quite nice and very gratifying.”
But, perhaps even more gratifying to Bankston are the 10 student study abroad trips he has lead to Europe and Russia dating back to 1982. His first trip was a bus tour that included Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg, London and Paris. Since then he has taken ASU students to Germany eight times and guided his first trip to Russia in 2008.
“I get to know students really well in a month-long, every-day setting,” Bankston said. “And the real reward, although a bit cheesy sounding, is getting to see them blossom in such a short time. It's like a movie of a flower opening that is shown in a time lapse mode.”
“Also, it may sound far-fetched, but I think it helps the world overall when little by little we get to see more of each other,” he added. “You find out that you are not so different and knock down some stereotypes.”
Outside of his campus life, Bankston is president of the board of directors of the San Angelo Day Nursery and has been a board member for 14 years.
“The nursery provides day care at about half the proprietary rate to make it possible for working parents, or those going to high school or college, to have a safe, loving environment for their children,” Bankston said. “It is fun and heart-warming to visit the nursery and realize that because of the efforts of the community, these less-advantaged children will enter public school kindergarten with a level of academic skills comparable to any children in town. We are helping children get a fair shake in life and I'm proud to be a small part of it.”
Bankston is also a board member of the Concho Valley Rape Crisis Center and faculty adviser to the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity. He earned his B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Texas and got his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He has two daughters, Brittany and Celia.
The change from business to academe, according to Bankston in reviewing his career, is like going to the fountain of youth every day.
“You spend your life with young people, which gives you a false sense of how young you are” he said. “The faces never change, they are always about 20 years old. So, you are always in this young world.”
Dr. Susan Keith: Shaping Up ASU
Dr. Susan Keith sees physical activity and sports as a calling and makes them an integral part of her life while promoting their benefits to others.
An associate professor of kinesiology, Keith also said they are a driving force in her career path. That is why she is part of a yearlong study that will hopefully lead to the establishment of a comprehensive ASU wellness program that will be available to employees, students and community members.
“Recently, we launched a health risk appraisal for all our full-time employees to complete,” Keith said. “We hope to bring about a level of awareness regarding individual health status among our employee population and then eventually do the same for our students.”
The ASUFit program already has sponsored wellness seminars, a campus survey and run/walk events as it strives to get the ASU community more involved in the wellness initiative. “Bill Cullins has done a fantastic job of spearheading these activities.”
Keith’s involvement in the project is reflected in her teaching career that includes being named the ASU Alumni Association’s 2008 Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award winner for the College of Education.
“To be successful, you have to have a passion,” Keith said. “Passion is what it’s all about. Having a longstanding history of physical activity, this really was the only choice for me and it’s the best choice.”
Keith said leading a healthy lifestyle figured into her career choice.
“I just can’t think of a better job to help me stay in shape, to help me be a lifelong learner and to be around bright, fun individuals,” she said.
Keith sees herself as a facilitator in class where she tries to inspire interaction and apply critical thinking skills. In her health promotion in the workplace class, students work in teams to develop a level III comprehensive worksite health promotion program. By completing this project, students understand the planning, implementation, and evaluation process that will help them in any health-related career they choose, she said.
“Health promotion is part of the exercise science curriculum which teaches how you would improve the social environment of the workplace and what you can do to help employees lead a healthier lifestyle,” she said.
Keith’s interest in a healthier lifestyle also can be traced to her heritage.
“My mother is almost full-blooded Choctaw,” Keith said. “There are health issues and disparities among underrepresented groups. Some groups have a predisposition for certain health issues, such as Type 2 diabetes. In my family, my grandmother and two uncles died because of complications related to Type 2 diabetes. My mother and two of my aunts also have Type 2 diabetes. However, it still comes down to diet and exercise.”
She said some problems developed for such groups as Native Americans when they changed from their past culture to the contemporary lifestyle.
“Culture has done a number on them as far as the high incidence of Type 2 diabetes,” Keith said.
Through research and opportunities at ASU, Keith said she is able to keep up with professional development and continue to learn about topics to which she hasn’t been exposed.
Keith, who calls Oklahoma home, earned a bachelor’s degree in office administration from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Central Oklahoma and a master’s in education from Baylor University. Her doctorate in health studies came from Texas Woman’s University.
Keith’s college career was marked by participation in athletics, first at the University of Nebraska where she was a member of the Lady Cornhuskers basketball team. After she transferred to Southwestern Oklahoma, she played on the women’s tennis team and served as the Army ROTC cadet sergeant major and then cadet commander.
While completing basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., Keith earned expert grenade thrower and sharpshooter status. Physical injuries prevented her from fulfilling military career aspirations, so she turned to business and then to education.
Her first stop in the education profession was Edmond, Okla., where she was the assistant tennis coach at Edmond High School. Then, while working on her master’s in education with an emphasis in exercise physiology at Baylor, Keith became a graduate assistant in the Physical Education Department.
Before coming to ASU in 1997, Keith taught physical education at Kilgore College and was its first director of fitness programs.
Keith’s journey of education and fitness continues with each new semester.
“You always need to have that element of wanting to learn and gain new experiences,” she said. “You have to be flexible and adjust to the changing times. Our student population continues to change. We have to be willing to identify and understand the changes in our student population so we can better meet their needs.”
Global Perspective
Educated at diverse points around the globe, Dr. Sudhir Chawla has been providing marketing instruction with an international perspective to ASU students for more than 20 years.
A native of Bombay, India, Chawla earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Bombay and his Ph.D. from National University of Ireland before doing post-doctoral work in kinetics while employed at the University of Toronto.
Though he had always been interested in a career in the business field, Chawla’s engineer father refused to pay for his college education unless he studied science.
“My dad is now 88 years old and he still believes that business is a field for rogues and rascals,” Chawla said.
After graduating from the University of Bombay, Chawla went to work for India’s Atomic Energy Commission in 1973.
“Later on when I left India, I realized that what I had been working on was the nuclear explosion,” Chawla said. “But, I had no idea when I worked there. It was all done in a modular fashion, so I didn’t know what my role was. I was just given a project. In reality, I was measuring one of the fallouts of a nuclear explosion.”
It was a Welch Fellowship to the University of Texas that finally opened the door for Chawla to pursue his interest in business. While teaching at UT-Arlington, he got his M.B.A. and then started his first stint at ASU in 1983 while finishing his doctorate. His time at ASU was interrupted, however, when he had to return to UTA for his residency requirement. He then spent two years at the University of Evansville until another job opened at ASU in 1989.
Since his return, ASU students have been benefitting from his background in both science and business.
“I strongly believe that a student needs some hands-on experience,” Chawla said. “A scientist gets his experience by doing lab work, but in the business schools, we usually just talk theories and students don’t get to interact with businesses. So, I try to expose all my classes to the community.”
The primary way he does that is to have his classes generate various types of marketing surveys for local businesses. To date, his classes have done nearly 400 such projects for all manner of entities, including churches, sports teams and companies in the retail, banking and manufacturing sectors. They have also done studies for ASU, the City of San Angelo and Tom Green County.
“In today’s global business world, companies not only require their employees to do the task assigned, but also to be good citizens,” Chawla said. “Most companies reward employees who will go beyond just their tasks. So, this is the best opportunity for students to work, get exposed and gain some experience of the real world.”
In 1996, one of Chawla’s classes helped Nathan’s Jewelers formulate a successful marketing strategy. The project also won the district, regional and national awards for best student consulting project from the Small Business Institute. There were more than 9,000 entries in the national contest.
Chawla has also won some individual awards. In 2000 he was named a Piper Distinguished Professor in management and he was nominated for a Carnegie Mellon Distinguished Professor Award in 2001.
Though raised mainly in San Angelo, Chawla’s kids also benefit from his global perspective. Every summer the family takes trips to different countries, having already visited more than 60 countries on five continents.
Fittingly, his kids also personify Chawla’s diverse interests. His daughter, Raj, is a biochemistry/biology major at ASU and his son, Shiv, is an economics major at UT.
Warm Feelings for Cold Country
The first thing that catches your eye upon entering the office of Wisconsin native Dr. Kathleen Price in the Kinesiology Department is a curling stone.
The 44-pound, oval polished granite stone used in the game played on ice represents both her fondness for her northern childhood and her ability to adapt to the milder winters of San Angelo.
Price, though, knows a lot about adapting. As an exercise scientist, Price has found adaptive physical education to be the course she enjoys teaching the most. Adaptive focuses on the individual needs of children who have motor developmental delays such as from cerebral palsy.
Her journey to ASU and her specialization was a circuitous one. The Milwaukee native left the cold country and moved to Texas with her family when her father was transferred by his company to Houston. From there, she went to Baylor University where she played varsity volleyball and received undergraduate and master’s degrees in kinesiology.
After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Baylor, Price taught and coached in public school, first in Cleveland, Texas, next in the Arlington Independent School District and then in Mansfield.
“In the back of my mind, I didn’t see myself doing that when I was 40,” Price said. “When I was 28 years old, I went back to school at Texas Woman’s University, which is noted for its adaptive physical education. I was more interested in sports sciences – exercise science, biomechanics and exercise physiology.”
Price came to ASU while she was still working on the dissertation for her doctorate and that word, “adapt,” showed up again.
“When I first got here, Melanie Croy was department head and told me I needed to teach adaptive physical education” she said. “I had never taken a class in adaptive, but I hung around other graduate students who were doing that, so I had a pretty good idea about it.”
“I was also familiar with this area because my grandfather had his leg amputated when I was seven years old due to circulatory problems. I learned at an early age that life goes on and that a disability wasn’t something that had to stop you from living. My grandfather continued to drive, fish, and live life to the fullest.”
“It’s been neat for me,” Price said, “because I have been able to look at the exercise physiology and biomechanics side of why a person with cerebral palsy walks that way or looking at muscular dystrophy or mental retardation characteristics and what implication they have in terms of exercise or mechanics of walking.”
Price also teaches physical education for elementary school. She said they look at age, developmentally appropriate activities and classroom management techniques.
“I encourage my physical education students to make interdisciplinary connections, such as reinforcing math, science or language arts concepts while teaching physical education,” Price said. “If we scratch the classroom teachers’ backs, they may do that for us.”
As for curling, Price was a speed skater growing up but never played the game. Curling teams used the same ice rinks she did, and she would watch them sliding the big stones.
Years later, Price saw curling on television and it reminded her of home. Later she received the curling stone as a birthday present.
“I was enamored and very surprised,” Price said. “I had never touched one and was surprised at how heavy and expensive it was, about $200.”
“There probably aren’t too many people in San Angelo with a curling stone,” Price said. “When it was delivered, the poor guy for UPS pulled up with this box. I thought it was going to be a great doorstop.”
She said she sees the stone as much more than that, however.
“The whole idea behind curling is a lot like life,” Price said. “You look at the slippery destination toward a goal. Sometimes there are obstacles you have to overcome and sometimes you need your buddies to help you through.”
Curling isn’t the only evidence of Price’s love of the northland. She also is a diehard Green Bay Packers football fan and can be seen regularly wearing Packers jerseys.
“The Packers used to play half their games in Milwaukee and half in Green Bay,” Price said. “I went to games in Milwaukee, but it wasn’t until four years ago that I finally got to go to Lambeau Field in Green Bay. It was really neat and I’m going to go back again at Christmas.”
Price still misses the ice, the Packers and one additional cold feature of Wisconsin, frozen custard.
“They have some frozen custard now in Texas, but it’s not quite like it is in Wisconsin,” Price said. “When I go up there and get off the airplane, the first stop is the frozen custard stand.”
The next stop might be a curling arena unless a Packers game is about to start.
A Symphony of Numbers
With one foot in each of the diverse worlds of music and accounting, Dr. Norman Sunderman has been using his talents to benefit both ASU students and the San Angelo community for more than two decades.
A 22-year member of both the ASU Accounting, Economics and Finance Department and the San Angelo Symphony, Sunderman is as accomplished on the clarinet as he is behind the lectern.
In fact, this fall he received the 2008 Outstanding Accounting Educator Award for small colleges from the Texas Society of CPAs. Earlier in the spring, Angelo State students voted him the recipient of the 2007-08 “Rammy” Award as outstanding professor in the ASU College of Business.
“It has certainly been a good year,” said Sunderman, an Ohio native who started his career as a band and music instructor before making the move to accounting.
“There were more opportunities in accounting than there were in teaching clarinet,” Sunderman said. “Plus, I’ve always been a numbers person. Even way back a long time ago when I was a music major, I had to take 12 hours of science and/or math. I took trigonometry, Calculus I, Calculus II and Calculus III because I didn’t want to take any lab courses.”
So, after teaching music for two years in Ohio public schools, four years at Nebraska-Wesleyan University and 10 years at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Sunderman got his M.B.A. and M.P.A. and started teaching accounting at A&M-Kingsville. In 1987, he joined the ASU faculty and has since become a highly respected accounting professor.
Even though he changed his teaching field, the talented clarinetist never turned his back on music. He played with the Lincoln Symphony in the Nebraska and the Corpus Christi Symphony while at A&M-Kingsville. He then joined the San Angelo Symphony as soon as he arrived at ASU, though in recent years he has moved to part-time status.
“A two-and-a-half hour rehearsal on Friday and a four-and-a-half hour rehearsal on Saturday with a concert Saturday night was starting to be a strain,” Sunderman said. “I didn’t want to give it up completely, but I wanted less time. So, this will be my third year as substitute or auxiliary clarinet.”
As a musician, Sunderman has played in all types and sizes of venues in several different states. But, it was perhaps the smallest place he ever played that remains his favorite, the Art Gallery at Nebraska-Wesleyan.
“It only seated about 100 or 110 people,” Sunderman said. “We would be playing and there would be people sitting on the floor almost looking up your horn. It was really fun to have that intimacy. There was always a packed house and the audience really enjoyed it. So, it was the venue that was exciting, not really the location.”
Location, however, is why Sunderman and his wife of 44-years, Carolyn, have formed such a bond with ASU and San Angelo.
“The town has a symphony, an art gallery, movie theaters, shopping and medical facilities,” Sunderman said. “It’s big enough that you live pretty nicely here. It doesn’t have just 20,000 or 30,000 people. The living is pretty nice.”
The living has been nice enough to keep Sunderman around and to feed both of his passions, which are also embodied in his family. Carolyn is a retired music teacher and son, Kurt, is an investment banker in Chicago.
Carving Out a Niche
Dr. Judith Hakes discovered the avocation for which she is best known while trying to do her job.
The ASU Teacher Education professor took up woodcarving while struggling to manage an unruly bunch of fifth graders as an elementary teacher in Woodland Park, Colo.
“There was a batch of boys coming up and nobody had been able to handle them,” Hakes said. “We were studying northwest coast Indians and their totem poles, and I asked the boys what kind of activities they would like to do. They said they would like to carve totem poles.”
Hakes had to learn the craft on the fly to keep up with her charges, but woodcarving was a natural for Hakes, whose father was a cabinet maker in Michigan. The self-taught woodcarver took the craft she learned in that Colorado classroom and has stuck with it for more than 30 years.
Her best-known piece is the university mace carried by distinguished faculty members during graduation ceremonies. The mace was designed in 1995 by a committee of faculty, staff and students and constructed by Bobby Peiser, retired ASU campus security director.
Hakes’ job was to carve a Rambouillet ram, the columns of the Porter Henderson Library and the Twin Buttes, a landmark west of San Angelo, on oval mesquite inlays in the orb of the mace. When she received the mace from Peiser, he had already fashioned the orb and set in the three blank ovals.
“I had no room for error,” Hakes said. “I carved right on the orb. I didn’t have a vice to hold it, so I did the carving in my lap. One of the insets was the ram and I was comfortable with that because I’ve carved a lot of rams.”
She said the Twin Buttes image was more challenging because of the limited space and it had a Concho Pearl to be inset to represent the moon.
“Nobody wanted to set the pearl into the wood, so I did it,” Hakes said. “I make a lot of jewelry, so that part didn’t bother me, but the carving had to be exactly right.”
Hakes said she likes to work with walnut, cherry and maple, but she has carved exotic woods like ebony and rosewood. She said ebony is a dense wood and difficult to carve, but even wood she likes can be difficult, like the wood in a violin she carved.
“My violin has a fiddle back with a curl in the hard maple,” Hakes said. “It will humble you. It is not easy. Sometimes you get a burl or highly figured wood with grain that goes every which way.”
A significant portion of Hakes’ woodworking involved musical instruments. A violin, one of four she has carved, has a ram’s head instead of a scroll design which typically sits on the end of a violin. The pegs used to tune the strings are in the shape of leaves and bigger leaf shapes are etched into the body of the violin.
Besides her four violins, Hakes also plans to add a mesquite harp to her collection of works, which already has three harps. In addition, she has built hammered dulcimers, which are made with strings stretched over a trapezoidal wood frame. Small mallet hammers strike the strings to sound notes.
Hakes’ interest in musical instruments comes from her original plan to major in music at the University of Michigan.
“Piano was my first instrument,” Hakes said. “I played the clarinet, the saxophone, a little violin, banjo, the hammered dulcimer and the accordion.”
Hakes has performed publicly at such events as the Toenail Trail Days at Christoval and graduate banquets at ASU.
“I play music for my own enjoyment and for anyone who will listen,” she said.
A shortage of money diverted Hakes from a career in music and put her on a path to teaching. She transferred to a junior college, then to the University of Northern Colorado where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. She taught school and then completed her education with a doctorate from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Hakes taught in Farmington, N.M., and worked in Albuquerque with Native Americans. When the grants that paid her salary ended, Hakes decided to return to teaching in 1985.
“The first announcement I received from the placement center in Boulder was from ASU,” Hakes said. “This city and campus felt just like home. It didn’t take me long to accept the position. I was glad to get to a small university where the people still cared and were serious about what they were doing. ASU has retained that after all these years.”
ASU also has afforded Hakes the opportunity to travel with its emphasis on international study and travel, she said.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am without that travel,” Hakes said. “I hope we keep doing that and expand those programs. Our students are going to benefit many times over – to have your way paid to go overseas and study is a fantastic opportunity.”
Shirley Eoff: Past Perfect
Shirley Eoff never really liked history until an excellent college professor opened her mind to the infinite permutations of the field. As a result, she found not only a career but also a passion.
Today, as a professor of history at Angelo State University, Eoff is sharing her passion about the discipline with a new generation of students. That passion comes through in her classroom, helping her to be named a finalist for ASU’s 2008 Teaching Excellence Award.
“History is more than names, dates, great men and wars,” Eoff said. “Rather, it is the collective story of how people lived and thought and the consequences of the choices they made. That allowed me to find in history the one field that could encompass my eclectic interests in everything from politics to literature.”
She aims to involve her students in history and, although she is a specialist in British history, she identifies local history projects her students can undertake. In the process, they are not only learning how to conduct original research but also serving the community.
“Using local resources,” she said, “I can provide first-hand training in methodology that reinforces classroom work and lets students become apprentice historians rather than just study historical topics.”
For instance, she assigned one graduate class in contemporary American history to explore the San Angelo polio epidemic of 1949. The graduate students conducted oral history interviews with doctors and survivors from the epidemic. Three of the students went on to present, as she described it, “an exceptionally well-received panel” at the annual meeting of the West Texas Historical Association.
The class’s work, which she shared with University of Texas history professor David Oshinsky, was cited in the acknowledgements of Oshinsky’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Polio: An American Story.
For her Honors Program classes in America history, she has teams of students research and write substantive papers on the historic buildings in downtown San Angelo. Using materials in the West Texas Collection, ASU’s regional historical archive, the students examine the origins and uses of those buildings over the years.
Far from an idle classroom exercise, this student research is shared with local historical preservation agencies for use in developing grant proposals, preservation plans and publicity materials for the city. As a result of their work, visitors to downtown San Angelo now find colorful banners hanging from adjacent light poles to highlight several historic structures.
“Most of the students really take pride in the work they have done and it links them to the community in a unique and special way,” Eoff said.
In many ways, history is about connecting the links in a never-ending chain between the past and the present.
“There is always something new to discover, some new question to ask, some new way of looking at things,” Eoff said. “I have a short attention span, so I need that dynamism and I need the human dimension to really connect with materials. The combination of continuity and change intrigues me, and I like that historians deal in shades of gray rather than black-and-white explanations. How can anyone not be fascinated and moved by those pieces of the past that people left behind to help us understand their lives, their triumphs and their tragedies?”
Her fascination with history began at Howard Payne University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Eoff went on to earn a master’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University and a Ph.D. in history from Texas Tech University, where she served four years as a history instructor. She joined the ASU history faculty in 1981 and has worked her way up the academic ranks to full professor.
Whether studying American or British history, her primary teaching interests are in modern social and diplomatic areas. Even so, she does extensive work in San Angelo and West Texas history. Her contributions to area history earned her election earlier this year as president of the West Texas Historical Association.
History lessons, in Eoff’s passionate view, extend far beyond the classroom.
“I truly believe that studying history is excellent preparation for virtually any field and for life itself. Beyond the obvious value of helping us understand the complexities of the world we live in, it provides essential reference points to help us make sound judgments on contemporary events.”
“The essence of historical study is examining, analyzing and interpreting evidence and using that evidence to craft a logical and persuasive argument,” she said. “I can’t think of any aspect of life or any career that couldn’t benefit from those critical skills.”
Roger Zarnowski:
Math is Music to His Ears
Growing up in the small farming community of Halstead, Kan., Roger Zarnowski quickly learned that he was different from all of his five siblings.
First off, they were all girls. Secondly, while they were his piano teacher mom’s prize pupils, the musical gene in his DNA was apparently dormant. One of his sisters is a guitar/piano teacher and several of the others still play piano regularly, but Roger found his life’s harmony first in physics and then mathematics.
Now a professor of mathematics at ASU, Dr. Zarnowski can look back and better appreciate that early musical education.
“I tried doing that for a few years and didn’t do so well at it,” Zarnowski said. “But, there are some interesting relationships between music and mathematics. One of my sisters and I get into conversations sometimes about her music and my math and how they relate to each other.”
“There are a lot of interesting mathematical relationships among the notes used in different musical scales,” he added. “From that it gets into digital music and how synthesizers work, things like that.”
An ASU faculty member since 1991, Zarnowski was a finalist for the 2008 Teaching Excellence Award. He came to Angelo State from the University of Oklahoma because of ASU’s emphasis on teaching and student research.
“Getting to work on research projects with some of the really bright students we get here is a neat experience,” Zarnowski said. “I’ve been able to explore some areas that were curiosities to me, get some students involved and look into some new things. It helps keep the mind going. There is no shortage of cool things to do.”
Currently, Zarnowski teaches mainly calculus and differential equations. He is also studying the recently developed mathematics involved in image processing for digital cameras and hopes to offer an introductory class on this new topic and its role in today’s technology. When he is not crunching numbers he gets as far away from walls, bookshelves and computers as he can for outdoor activities like running, biking and visiting state parks.
Zarnowski holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in mathematics from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Indiana University. He and his wife, Becky, have a son, Adam, who is a government major at ASU.
Bonnie Amos: Returning to Her Roots
Growing up in the rural Concho Valley, Dr. Bonnie Amos was introduced to nature at an early age and has been passing on her love of all things botanical to students in the ASU Biology Department for over 20 years.
Winner of ASU’s 2008 Teaching Excellence Award, Amos originally planned a career in botany research, but decided to take the teaching route to have more contact with students. Now, she has the best of both worlds.
“I really like the teaching portion of it and what is great about ASU is the opportunity that I have to work with students in research,” Amos said. “In fact, the research that I do now, I could not do without their help.”
That research includes studies and surveys of plants native to the Chihuahuan Desert and Chisos Mountains regions of Big Bend National Park and is almost always aided by both graduate and undergraduate students.
“Being an ASU graduate, I appreciate what that opportunity meant to me when I was a student here,” Amos said. “It really made a difference in my life. It enriched not only my education, but helped me select a career. So I wanted to come back and pay back that debt that I felt I owed this university.”
Upon her return, Amos was quickly named head of the Biology Department, a post she held for 13 years, but then vacated to free up more time for teaching and research. She is also curator of the Angelo State Natural History Collections’ Herbarium, which contains over 60,000 plant specimens from Texas, the U.S. and around the world.
“It’s amazing,” Amos said. “I think I could work in there even if it wasn’t part of my responsibilities.”
Amos credits an ASU plant taxonomy class for really opening her mind to a career in botany, but her love of nature goes all the way back to her childhood.
“My grandmother would walk me around their property, show me the wildflowers, tell me the names of them and tell me interesting things about them,” Amos said. “My parents both loved the outdoors and my dad was an avid hunter and fisherman, so I was always outside with him. I think that early introduction to nature made a big difference.”
Amos holds both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from ASU and her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. In her spare time she enjoys reading, attending sporting events, traveling, snorkeling and spending time with her family. Her immediate family consists of four rescued dogs, Sugar, Dottie, Lucy and Rosy, who share her home near Dove Creek.
While she admits to occasionally wondering what her life would have been like had she gone into research instead of teaching, Amos has found a home at ASU.
“I have excellent colleagues,” she said. “We all have the same objective and that is doing the best we can for our students. That makes it a nice place to work.”
Edward Surface: The Music Man
After several years of teaching college students, Dr. Edward Surface figured he was finally prepared for his next adventure, a summer of touring with the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus.
A member of the Angelo State University music faculty since 1976, Surface went on the road with the circus in the early 80’s, playing trombone and tuba in the “greatest show on Earth.” It was not just a musical experience, but also a lesson in diversity.
“There was an acrobat team from China, jugglers from Hungary and many others,” Surface said. “With the circus, you are around so many different cultures with people that speak nine or 10 different languages, plus you are virtually in a moving city. It was fascinating.”
After working with acrobats, clowns and lion tamers, Surface returned to ASU with a new appreciation for his students.
Currently the director of the ASU Brass Choir, Surface has also taken his act on the road throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada. His credits include live performances accompanying such artists as B.J. Thomas, Anacanni, Harry Connick, Sr., Anita Bryant and Janie Fricke. He recently completed a musical tour of Mexico with fellow ASU music professor Dr. John Irish.
But, wherever he travels, Surface loves to return home.
“San Angelo is a gold mine as far as the arts are concerned,” Surface said. “We have a symphony here that has developed over the years while the whole arts dimension in this community has radically changed. It has been fun to be a part of that through my association with the symphony and with ASU. That is what caused me to stay all these years, I kind of feel like a pioneer.”
Surface holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and his Ph.D. from Texas Tech. When not performing, he enjoys the outdoors, traveling and golf.
“Teaching here and living in this community is an honor,” Surface said. “I feel honored not only teaching, but performing with some of the people like John Irish, the high level of professionalism and musicianship. There have been times when I haven’t been around that caliber of musician to work with and it makes a big difference in your life.”
Sharynn Tomlin: World Traveler
Growing up in San Angelo, Dr. Sharynn Tomlin dreamed of visiting exotic locales. Now, as head of Angelo State University’s International Studies program, she has become a world traveler.
Director of the program since 2000, Tomlin often leaves home and hearth behind to accompany student academic trips and attend conferences in places like Scotland, Costa Rica, Ireland, Belgium, France, Mexico, Spain and Canada. While it’s technically work, for her it’s just living the dream.
“I’ve always been fascinated by different cultures, where people came from and how they got here,” Tomlin said. “It’s just a natural curiosity about the world around us.”
Born a California girl in Monterrey, Tomlin’s first taste of travel came as a five-year old when her family moved to San Angelo. Now, her favorite destination is Paris, though she also recommends Vancouver, and she thinks everyone could benefit from study abroad.
“The real educational value is truly in how our students can see the world around them,” Tomlin said. “It’s often a life-changing experience for both the students and the faculty that accompany them.”
A 20-year ASU faculty member, Tomlin also interacts with many foreign students in her international business and management classes. She sees them enjoying many of the same experiences at ASU.
“The one thing I hear consistently from many of my international students is that they don’t want to go back home, they want to stay here,” Tomlin said. “A lot of them, even the ones just here on exchange programs, do end up coming back and finishing up their degrees or coming back and completing their master’s work.”
Despite her globe-trotting tendencies, Tomlin has found a “second home” at Angelo State. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from ASU before taking her Ph.D. from North Texas State. Her husband, Stuart, also attended ASU, where the pair lived in married student housing. Their son, Les, their daughter, Rebecca, and daughter-in-law, Amanda, are ASU alumni.
Tomlin’s hope now is that her four grandchildren will follow in her footsteps, both at ASU and around the world.
Cody Scott: West Texas ‘Ranger’
His affinity for the livestock, plants and wildlife of West Texas has helped make ASU animal science professor Dr. Cody Scott one of the top range management professionals in the entire country.
He is the 2007 recipient of both the state and national Outstanding Young Range Professional Award from the Society for Range Management.
“You’re looking at brush control, increasing forage production, increasing biodiversity, increasing animal gains and even improving the habitat for wildlife,” Scott said. “The distinction of range management from wildlife management or ecology is that we are dealing with systems that have livestock involved in them.”
“That is not always the case now,” he added, “but the issues are still the same. We’re still trying to improve soil stability, increase vegetation production and improve the aesthetics of the land.”
A West Texas native, Scott has been on the ASU faculty since 1995. Outside the classroom, he conducts his own research, advises graduate research projects, consults with area landowners and directs the public draw hunts at the ASU Ranch. He is also responsible for all range management decisions at the ranch. But, what he likes best is indoors, inside the classroom.
“I really like research and I wanted to leave my mark as a research scientist,” Scott said. “Since I’ve been here, that has changed. When I first came here, if you asked me what I enjoyed most, it was the research part and then teaching. Now, no matter what else is going on, when I walk in the classroom everything is fine. The teaching part is what I enjoy more now.”
Fittingly, it was the accomplishments of a student, Corey Owens, which provided Scott with the highlight of his teaching career. Owens was recognized as the outstanding graduate student at ASU in 2007, only the second time the designation had ever been awarded. He has since joined Scott on the faculty of the ASU Agriculture Department.
“I advised him for most of his undergraduate career and then I was his master’s thesis adviser,” Scott said. “We got to be close friends during that time. Working with him and seeing him come along, seeing him advance, that was one of the coolest things.”
In his spare time, Scott enjoys golfing, hunting, fishing, raising horses and sheep, and watching his son, Brian, play sports for Veribest High School. Brian is following his dad to ASU in the fall and hopes to play football for the Rams. Scott’s mom, Susan Farr, and wife, Bridget, hold degrees from ASU, where Scott also received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
“I think most people would like to go back to work for a university they went to school at,” Scott said. “It is great for me to get to do it. I enjoy it and I love my job. I really do.”
David Tarver: Teacher and Birder
Spending his entire career in the mostly indoor world of higher education has given Dr. David Tarver a particular appreciation of the great outdoors, most noticeable in his hobby of bird watching.
After starting out as a public school biology teacher, Tarver’s migratory path took him into college administration and finally to Angelo State University, where he teaches in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. But, his love of all things feathered often takes him into the field to photograph and help band the local avian populations.
“We band them for scientific purposes and the data goes to a national databank,” Tarver said. “We track things like migration routes, age, sex and population densities of birds. So, the scientist part of me is still in there.”
An avid bird watcher and photographer since 1970, Tarver also participates in the annual summer banding of hummingbirds at the Hummer House in Christoval. His picture of a painted bunting was used for a San Angelo Chamber of Commerce ad in a recent issue of Texas Monthly magazine.
When he comes inside, Tarver aims to help his flock of students spread their wings and fly.
“To help them learn about managing their way through college and give them potential for success is just exciting,” Tarver said. “All the students are great to work with, both at the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels. They are so appreciative of somebody showing interest in them.”
His work with students has earned Tarver a 2005 “Rammy” award from the Student Government Association and a 2006 Distinguished Faculty Award from the Alumni Association. He will also be keeping an eagle-eye on the Faculty Senate as president for 2007-08.
“It’s an opportunity to be the voice of the faculty to the administration,” Tarver said. “So, if there are positive and/or challenging things that we need to dialogue with the administration about, it gives me a direct opportunity to be influential and I like that.”
Tarver earned his bachelor’s degree from Tarleton State, his master’s from UT-Permian Basin and his Ed.D. from the former East Texas State. He and his wife, Debbie, have four “children.” They are two Yorkshire terriers, Harley and Hannah, and two Eastern box turtles, Digger and Denise.
Terry Dalrymple: The Dawning Light
Whether in the great outdoors or in the classroom, Dr. Terence A. “Terry” Dalrymple enjoys nothing more than seeing the light dawn, either on a West Texas horizon or in the eyes of a student who catches the joy of literature and writing.
From childhood the Angelo State University English Professor learned an appreciation of the outdoors from his parents and grew up with fond memories of hiking and camping in the Texas Hill Country as he pondered the majesty of nature.
With his love of the outdoors, he found a kinship with Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, both the book and the character inspiring him both as a lover of literature and as a writer.
“I recognized early on how much literature had to offer in regard to understanding human experience,” said Dalrymple, holder of the John S. Cargile University Professorship and the ASU Alumni Association’s 2007 Distinguished Faculty Award Recipient in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts.
Just as he found awe in nature, Dalrymple also found majesty in the well-crafted sentence or the well-drawn character who gives us insight into ourselves and into our lives. That love of literature and his active imagination have spawned two books of fiction and 16 short stories as well as dozens of articles and reviews.
His artistry with words has earned him membership in the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters, not to mention the praise of his students and fellow faculty members.
“I enjoy working with students who love, or develop a love for, what I love – reading, writing and discussing reading and writing,” Dalrymple said.
Dalrymple arrived at Angelo State in 1979 with a one-year appointment to teach composition in the English Department. He has been at ASU ever since.
“The emphasis on teaching at this university,” he said, “suits me perfectly.”
Dalrymple earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southwest Texas State University and his doctorate from Oklahoma State University. He and his wife, Lorraine, have three children.
Bill Doll: A Lion of the Stage
Dr. Bill Doll may not have an Oscar, Emmy or Tony, but the director of University Theater does have the 2007 Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA) Educator of the Year Award in his trophy case.
Even though he lacks one of the top acting awards, he has performed on stage with the late Maureen Stapleton, who received one of each during her storied career.
“Maureen and I did ‘The Glass Menagerie’ when I was in graduate school and I met her the week after she won her Oscar,” Doll said. “She played Amanda and I was Jim the gentleman caller. It was a lot of fun to work with her for two-and-a-half or three weeks.”
Doll’s favorite role, however, was playing the Cowardly Lion in “The Wiz,” a rock-and-roll version of “The Wizard of Oz.” One critic wrote that Doll portrayed “the most lovable and hilarious pussycat to ever tiptoe across a stage.”
With his swept-back hairstyle and full beard, Doll may resemble a cuddly lion as he reigns over the ASU drama program. A member of the ASU faculty since 1999, Doll has directed more than 30 University Theatre productions.
“We hopefully delight and instruct,” Doll said. “That is our goal from the classical model, that in this there is something entertaining that will delight us and there is also an important message that will instruct us. Those are our goals in the theatre and many of the arts.”
In addition to his TETA award, Doll also has three ASU “Rammy” nominations as professor of the year in the liberal and fine arts and was a 2006 nominee for the Faculty Senate’s Teaching Excellence Award. Fittingly, Doll said he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a teacher, despite his acting talents.
“The theatre is perfect for me because it’s something different all the time. I’m researching some new thing for every production and there are new challenges for every show that we work on. I also really get to have an impact on the students.”
Several of Doll’s ASU productions have won awards at the annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State, a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University and a Ph.D. from Texas Tech. He is engaged to Carala Luker of San Antonio.
Terry Maxwell: The Blackboard Jungle
As a member of Angelo State’s biology faculty, Dr. Terry C. Maxwell has been known to capture all sorts of animals without ever touching a single one of them.
Maxwell uses his artistry to capture them in pen-and-ink on paper or in chalk on the blackboards of three classrooms in the Cavness Science Building where the ASU Biology Department and the ASU Natural History Collections are housed.
“I never had any really formal instruction in illustrating art, which is basically what I do,” Maxwell said. “It’s a lifetime of practice.”
Practice makes perfect in Maxwell’s case because his eye-catching blackboard art in Cavness Rooms 111, 119 and 123 has become an ASU student attraction and likely holds a longevity record for blackboard work.
His chalk portraits of a fish, two salamanders, two birds, three frogs and four large cats are all 15-20 years old. Not only do biology students see his illustrations but also the readers of the San Angelo Standard-Times, which run his weekly nature column “Naturally Texas.”
His art avocation, though, blended nicely with his formal education as he holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management and a Ph.D. in wildlife and fisheries science, both from Texas A&M, as well as an M.S. in biology from Angelo State. He has used his artistic talents to illustrate his love of nature, especially birds.
Today the former Biology Department head is curator of birds for the Angelo State Natural History Collection, a prime resource for field biology. He is also one of the most popular professors on campus, twice named by the Student Senate as the outstanding faculty member in the sciences. He has also been honored by the Faculty Senate and the Alumni Association for teaching excellence.
In 2007 he was named a Piper Distinguished Professorship by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the teaching profession. This statewide award is the highest classroom recognition for university professors in Texas.
Despite all the contemporary recognition, Maxwell considers himself old-fashioned.
“I am one of the few people apparently remaining who passionately defends holding on to the old-timey black blackboards,” he said. “Everybody’s gone to the fancy whiteboards with the erasable marker or the green boards with the yellow chalk.
“I practically chain myself to a blackboard when they are threatening to take it down and replace it because I can’t do my art on anything but a blackboard,” he said. “I’m sure the day that I retire somebody in charge of boards will say thank goodness he’s gone and we can put something modern up there.”
Maxwell and his wife, Ann, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from ASU, share many field study experiences and a love of art.
Carolyn Mason: A Unique Perspective
Dr. Carolyn Mason brings her own experience as both a therapist and a patient to the students in her graduate physical therapy classes.
Having dealt with rheumatoid arthritis since she was 15 years old, Mason truly knows both sides of the therapist-patient relationship. By coupling that knowledge with her expertise in neuroscience, Mason gives her students a unique perspective on treating patients.
"There is the science, the foundation, so we know why we do lots of stuff in physical therapy," Mason said. "Then, there is also the art, which is the interaction of the physical therapist with the patient. I really enjoy seeing the students when they have those "a-ha" moments, particularly in neuroscience, when they can see the whole picture."
A member of the ASU faculty since 2003, Mason was a finalist for the 2007 Teaching Excellence Award. She particularly enjoys the faculty camaraderie and support at ASU that is not always found at all institutions. She is also popular amongst the students, earning outstanding course evaluation scores.
"I was looking for a relatively new program that would allow me to bring my theories and the way I wanted to teach into the classroom," Mason said. "That lets me not be bound by tradition and be able to respond to the needs of the students, the curriculum and the program and have that flexibility to use my potential in the best ways."
With her eye on the future, Mason is pursuing certification in aquatic therapy to stay abreast of that quickly growing area of her field and with the ultimate goal of adding it to the ASU program.
In her spare time Mason enjoys cooking and gardening. She has been known to try out new recipes on unsuspecting dinner guests and is currently landscaping her new home.
Nick Flynn: From Scrums to Honors
For many years, Dr. Nick Flynn got his kicks – as well as a few bruises and bloody noses – from rugby. Today, though, he gets the same satisfaction from Angelo State University’s Honors Program, less the injuries, of course.
The same determination that kept him whole through years of rugby scrums is helping build the ASU Honors Program. It all began with a committee meeting. Flynn participated in an ad hoc committee to develop the program and wound up as its director in 2002.
"I was able to attend a regional Great Plains Honors Council meeting," Flynn said. "I began to really fall in love with the concept of honors and being able to help some of our academically talented students get to that next level, be it graduate school, professional school or a job."
Under Flynn’s direction, the Honors Program graduated its first class in 2006 and became a model for start-up programs at other universities.
When he’s not in his Honors office, the associate professor of biochemistry will be in a laboratory or on the sidelines with ASU’s club rugby team.
He started playing the rough-and-tumble sport in high school and continued while an undergrad at Texas A&M. He was such a rugby fanatic that until 2006 he would drive 100 miles to practice and play on the Midland men’s club team.
"You can go to any city and walk out on a rugby field and you are part of that family," Flynn said. "Rugby players are a very welcoming bunch and it’s the same with Honors. That’s why I’ve stayed around the Honors Program this long because that same camaraderie is there."
In 1999 Flynn helped revive the ASU club rugby team, coached until 2004 and continues to assist. The team has won three of the last four state championships.
The other team Flynn is proud to be a member of is the ASU faculty. "The faculty members here are absolutely dedicated to making sure our students make it to the next level and achieve their goals," Flynn said.
Flynn holds a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Texas A&M. He and his wife, Serena, have two sons, Logan and Dillon.
Gloria Duarte: Lessons in English and Life
Despite starting grade school without knowing a word of English, ironically, Dr. Gloria Duarte is now the longest tenured professor in the ASU English Department.
As a result of her life experiences, Duarte delivers to her students much more than just lessons on composition and literature, but also tips on culture and life. In her lectures, Duarte likes to connect what she is teaching and what it means in the Hispanic culture. She also encourages students to learn a second language.
"It’s things like that that I enjoy talking about in class besides just ’here is what we are studying today," Duarte said. "So, whenever I can, I talk about the Hispanic culture and things that I went through when I was in school to make them aware that I have been where they have been."
A 30-year ASU faculty member, Duarte was a finalist for the 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award. Over the years she has seen thousands of students come through her classrooms.
"I enjoy the students, having different students every semester so that every 16 weeks there is a new group that comes in," Duarte said. "Sometimes what is funny is that the ones you think like you the least are the ones who keep appearing in your classes. It’s very rewarding when you have students who say you somehow influenced them. Sometimes you find out that the quiet ones sitting in the back are the ones you reach."
However, it’s amazing that Duarte even became an English teacher since she began elementary school in Menard not knowing the language. Not allowed to speak Spanish, she calls her early school days "the long silence" until she learned English by observing and mimicking the other students.
Perhaps because of that, Duarte says her proudest achievement is getting a Mexican-American literature class added to her department in 1998.
Duarte holds a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University, master’s degree from ASU and Ph.D. from Texas Tech. In her spare time she likes to paint and spend time with daughter Alexis and granddaughter Serena.
Trey Smith: A Study in Balance
Dr. Trey Smith certainly displays a flair for balance, whether he is teaching mathematics, writing plays or riding his unicycle.
An assistant professor in the ASU Mathematics Department, Smith balances the classes he teaches between several different types of students. Besides algebra and calculus classes stocked mostly with math majors, he also teaches courses designed specifically for liberal arts and business majors.
"One of the best things about ASU is that it affords me an opportunity to work with some really great students," Smith said. "Due to a great research scholarship program and an encouraging philosophy with regard to student research, I have been able to work on some really fun projects with a lot of different students."
For his outstanding work in the classroom, Smith is the recipient of the ASU 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award.
Smith has also found a unique way to balance the two sides of his brain. While his analytical left brain concentrates on math lessons, he exercises his creative/intuitive right brain by writing plays. His works have twice been featured in the ASU Summer Dinner Theatre productions of "Uncommon Threads" in 2005 and "Original One-Act Plays" in 2007.
"His plays make me think and laugh and wonder," said ASU theatre director Dr. Bill Doll. "They also make me really, really puzzled about how screwed up those wires in his head must be."
But, the most obvious exhibition of Smith’s balance is when he is partaking in his unusual hobby of riding a unicycle.
"I took up unicycling two summers ago and it started out as a father-son thing with my then 11-year old son, Lee," Smith said. "After we both learned, we got seriously hooked. Both of us are actually more into muni (mountain unicycling) and have gone on several trail rides together."
A member of the ASU faculty since 1994, Smith earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at ASU and his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. He is married to Laura Smith and they have three sons, Huston, Carl and Lee.
