Letter to the Editor: May 14, 2009
Issue date: 5/14/09 Section: Opinion
He wrote a stunning support letter for my MSU Career Service file-or so I am told. That letter helped me become a professor at Pacific. I owe my professional existence to his support and knowledge of my classroom and scholarly interests. He is my model for how to conduct oneself professionally. He did it all.
And he did it without complaint and angst. He was equally dedicated to his discipline and his students. It pains me now, near the end of my own career, to know that I will never match his scholarly output; I have produced less than one-third of his corpus. I hope I have not failed his hopes for me.
So, let me urge us all to think carefully about the motivating factors that have brought us to this institution. I hope that every one of us loves teaching-the give and take, the corrections, the pleasant surprises from the quiet students, the eagerness they bring to acquiring a new skill or new form of knowledge. And I hope that we will also be able to see the way to a devotion to those students that is accompanied by satisfying scholarly or artistic pursuits. I would be glad to sit down and talk with anyone who would like some guidance from the perspective of someone starting his 34th year here.
As I said at the convocation, the students are our only reason for being here. We owe them our very best.
Thank you for your consideration. Best wishes for a wise decision.
--Mike Steele
Distinguished University Professor
And he did it without complaint and angst. He was equally dedicated to his discipline and his students. It pains me now, near the end of my own career, to know that I will never match his scholarly output; I have produced less than one-third of his corpus. I hope I have not failed his hopes for me.
So, let me urge us all to think carefully about the motivating factors that have brought us to this institution. I hope that every one of us loves teaching-the give and take, the corrections, the pleasant surprises from the quiet students, the eagerness they bring to acquiring a new skill or new form of knowledge. And I hope that we will also be able to see the way to a devotion to those students that is accompanied by satisfying scholarly or artistic pursuits. I would be glad to sit down and talk with anyone who would like some guidance from the perspective of someone starting his 34th year here.
As I said at the convocation, the students are our only reason for being here. We owe them our very best.
Thank you for your consideration. Best wishes for a wise decision.
--Mike Steele
Distinguished University Professor
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