Retired Faculty Keep On Giving
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 13, 2010) — A recent survey of retired University of Kentucky faculty generated interesting data on how their past professional experience continues to manifest itself in retirement activities. Many have maintained their departmental friends as well as the educational activities that UK offers. More importantly, they continue to play an important role in the university’s functions, both as a group and as individuals.
Through their 20-year-old organization, the UK Association of Emeriti Faculty, retirees have provided three or more fellowships each year since 1996 for doctoral candidates planning to teach at the college or university level. Some of the association officers play important roles in university governance. The current president, James Wells (Mathematics), is a voting member of the UK Senate. Benefits Chair Michael Tearney (Business and Economics) champions retirees’ concerns as a member of the UK Benefits Committee. Recording Secretary Ed Sagan, former dean of the College of Education, serves on the oversight board for the Limestone Crossing project and returned to the college as its interim dean.
As individuals, many retirees donate time and money to endowing scholarships and professorships, teaching and tutoring, fundraising, and continuing their research and publication, sometimes in collaboration with in-service colleagues. Among those who have donated time, Gifford Blyton (Communication) probably takes top prize, serving well into his 90s as parliamentarian for the Faculty Senate. The association survey revealed that one retiree had set up an endowment, more than a dozen others had established scholarships at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and three have funded professorships.
In providing university service, through volunteer teaching or mentoring, more than half of the respondees reported teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels and almost all have engaged in tutoring or mentoring at all levels: undergraduate, graduate and new faculty. A number of retirees have participated in fundraising for university projects, such as the William T. Young Library and the UK Arboretum. Many remain involved with departmental programs, some of which they helped create as active professors. But the most surprising finding was in the amount of post-retirement publishing that has been done — an activity that enhances the national prestige of the university. As a whole, since retiring, the respondents have published more than 100 scholarly articles and more than 30 professional books, and they have acted as critics for the writings of in-service colleagues.
Three retirees have been amazingly prolific in their scholarship: John Shawcross (English), with 10 books and 72 articles; Thomas Mullaney (Dentistry), with 30 articles; Jacqueline Noonan (Pediatrics), with 15 peer-reviewed papers and four chapters for books or monograms while teaching a small-group class each year, delivering about 45 lectures, and continuing her clinical studies.
A good example of a retiree/in-service collaboration is James Rodgers (Theatre). With colleagues in the UK School of Music, he has researched and written the librettos for two operas on Abraham Lincoln. "River of Time," done in collaboration with composer Joseph Baber, had three performances at the Lexington Opera House. A children’s opera, "A Shirt-Tailed Boy Named Abe," with Jay Flippin, has been performed in 40 Kentucky schools. Both were funded by Kentucky Humanities grants.
Several retirees participate in scholarly organizations, by reading papers or chairing groups. And a number, like Robert Straus (Medicine), serve as volunteer subjects for university research projects, such as Alzheimer's disease and shingles studies. Several continue active participation in research started while still in service. Eight respondents have participated in studies on the status of women at the University. Other research projects include the Peace Corps History Project and NSF-sponsored research. Some retirees continue to volunteer their expertise by interviewing applicants for entrance to graduate programs, by reading scholarship applications and by serving on admission committees. Each of these activities illustrates the value of emeritus contributions to the University and its mission—both in service and in enhancing its prestige. In every sense, faculty retirees remain an integral part of the university.