OT: Anecdotes about a favorite teacher at PSU

[LionJim]

The post about Steve Manual blew me away. In particular, it was gratifying to recognize Mike Robinson's gratitude for having Mr. Manual as a teacher. Mike is all, "This guy, he helped me so much, a great influence." We all have our own stories.

Here's mine: I screwed up my first registration in Fall 1974 and ended up in Reading German. I got an F. Afterwards, I go to the Assistant Dean and tell him that I got two Bs and this F in German and maybe it would be appropriate for me, a deaf guy, to be waived from the LA language requirement. "Sounds reasonable. Let me talk to the teacher." Two days later, "I spoke with your instructor. He said your only problem is that you didn't work hard enough." What was also said, implicitly, was "You better cut the ******** and stop making excuses." That German instructor really made a difference for me. The dean too, actually. He was later a great help to me when I was making arrangements to leave PSU (he encouraged me to leave, telling me I was making the right decision). Anyway, the post about Mr. Manual kind of set me off, nice memories. I've had a lot of good people on my side.

 

[Zenophile]

Had a scheduled Office Hours appointment with Dr. Paul Cornwell during a particularly hellacious week. He took a good look at my countenance (and associated getup) and said, “You need sleep more than anything I’m going to help you with today.” He tucked me into his office couch, and I slept for the duration of his office hours that day (including through his other scheduled appointments). The only thing he said upon waking me was, “good luck with the rest of this week. See you here next week ready to go over the (whatever neurology thing I’d initially asked to discuss) lesson.” To this day, it was the most restful nap I’ve ever taken.

 

[Metal Mike]

In my junior year I took a metallography class taught by the head of the Metallurgy Department, Dr. Lindsay. The class included a 3-hour lab, but Dr. Lindsay used this as an additional lecture period since in his opinion we would have technicians to produce the samples for examination. So one day after a heavy lunch I headed to the 3-hour lecture. Dr. Lindsay used a slide projector and slides to show us the structures we would be looking at. The lights when out and soon thereafter so did I. I sleep through most of the lecture. When the lights came back on I was still asleep. I quick look at my notebook revealed I had dozed off on the 3rd slide. Dr. Lindsay told me to get supper then come back to his office at 6 pm. He then went over the whole lecture one on one. At the end of the term Dr. Lindsey collected our notebooks. He went through them and corrected any mistakes or omissions in our notes. He wanted to make sure we did not leave with some mistake. These actions demonstrated to me his commitment to providing us an education. Here the head of the department took his time to teach a goof off who fell asleep and take the time to read our notes.

 

[OuiRPSU]

After 30+ years, I don’t remember the names of any of my profs, or even my advisor for 4 years. Guess none of them made a big impact on me

 

[Moogy]

Favorite teachers: All the ones that didn't let attendance affect your grade.
Least favorite teachers: Anyone else.

I don't remember any of them, outside of John Bagby (maybe that wasn't even his first name), because he was my honors thesis advisor, until I decided not to complete it once I got into law school and didn't need the resume filler.

 

[Nittany1865Farmer]

Had an organic chemistry lab during my sophomore year in Whitmore Labs. Of course the labs were four-hour classes because of the type of experiments that we were doing. One day, we were setting up and running a distillation process as was common in industrial processes, except on a smaller scale. One student set his up, turned on the heater to start the evaporation and proceeded to leave the lab to go downtown until he figured it would be done. The professor walked into the lab and saw the experiment running with no one watching it. He asked us where the student was and we really didn't know where he went. He told us to move our equipment away from it and said for us to observe what will happen. Sure enough, the student didn't come back in time and his experiment boiled dry, superheated the glass vessels and it shattered in a loud bang everywhere. When the student finally came back, the professor told him in front of us that in the world of chemical industry, he probably would have caused a serious fire and caused severe damage to the factory with his carelessness. Needless to say, he was not back to class the next week. The professor was trying to teach all of us a valuable lesson on paying attention even to the smallest details in every facet of a chemical process is important.

 

[fairgambit]

Warren W. Hassler, Jr. was an American History professor, and author, at Penn State. I had 2 Civil War courses with him and thought he was terrific. We had to write a paper for one of the courses and I wrote about Jackson's Valley Campaign. I graded well but really didn't think he knew much about me. Still, when I applied to law school, I needed a recommendation from a professor and my Penn State classes were so large and impersonal Professor Hassler was the only one I thought might help. I approached him with apprehension but he was very gracious and agreed to write one. I don't know what he wrote but it was sent to the four law schools I applied to and I was accepted at all four. I will be forever grateful. Professor Hassler died in 2012. He was a good man and a great professor. May he rest in peace.

 

[rudedude]

Circa 1977-1978, Cultural Anthropology with Napoleon Chagnon. He starred in his own documentary, A Man Called Bee, about his adventures amongst the Yanomamo tribe of the Amazon. He would regale us with stories of his encounters, including inhaling hallucinogenic powder to “commune” with dead elders! Quite the class.

My advisor was Dr. R. Lance Shotland in the psychology department. A terrific professor and was one of Stanley Milgram’s associates. Milgram conducted famous social psychology studies of how authority figures can alter a person’s internal moral compass. I participated in several of Dr Shotland’s social psychology experiments on campus, including one which led to a research article on what could induce an observer to intervene in a potential assault situation. You could not even be approved to do such a study in today’s world.

 

[JohnJumba]

Dr. Mayer and his memorable quote...."Wonderful invention, the sphincter. Manages to retain liquids and solids, while allowing air and gas to escape".

 

[PSU1969A]

My most memorable teacher at PSU was Dr. Penti Honkaken of the Computer Science Department. Even tough I was an Education major, he reinforced the concept that one learns by seeing, hearing and doing. I took several courses with him; he never ceased providing me with tools that I would use later in life as an Analyst/Programmer and Supervisor. I would be amiss to not mention Dr. Ralph T Heimer, Academic Advisor who encouraged me to take as many Computer Science courses as possible because computers would become essential for teaching.

 

[OuiRPSU]

Circa 1977-1978, Cultural Anthropology with Napoleon Chagnon. He starred in his own documentary, A Man Called Bee, about his adventures amongst the Yanomamo tribe of the Amazon. He would regale us with stories of his encounters, including inhaling hallucinogenic powder to “commune” with dead elders! Quithe class.

My advisor was Dr. R. Lance Shotland in the psychology department. A terrific professor and was one of Stanley Milgram’s associates. Milgram conducted famous social psychology studies of how authority figures can alter a person’s internal moral compass. I participated in several of Dr Shotland’s social psychology experiments on campus, including one which led to a research article on what could induce an observer to intervene in a potential assault situation. You could not even be approved to do such a study in today’s world.

Sorry, but I just can’t not post it:

 

[OuiRPSU]

My most memorable teacher at PSU was Dr. Penti Honkaken (spelling) of the Computer Science Department. Even tough I was an Education major, he reinforced the concept that one learns by seeing, hearing and doing. I took several courses with him; he never ceased providing me with tools that I would use later in life as an Analyst/Programmer and Supervisor. I would be amiss to not mention Dr. Ralph T Heimer who encouraged me to take as many Computer Science courses as possible because computers were the future and not a fad.

Today, “seeing, hearing and doing” is known as “experiential learning,” and I’m a huge proponent of it for my students.

 

[JohnJumba]

My worst professor was Samih Obaid who "taught" statistics. No one could understand this jackass.

I withdrew before I failed.

 

[DonP74]

J. Cudd Brown-70s, political science.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

Dr. Chelius...Meteorology...summer, 1982

 

[MrTailgate]

The one and onlyJoe Bradley - Finance 105. Legendary.

 

[PSUBOB]

Engineering Professor Carl Moss. He was an ex-Marine with a crew cut and a wooden leg. He would thumb tack papers to his pants leg. He never did much teaching, just rambled. Was the worst I ever had.

 

[Ceasar]

Vernon Asputurian, several classes on the Soviet Union. Brilliant man who was born in the republic of Georgia and understood the evil empire better than most. In the early '80's when it was a bipolar world and the USSR was a superpower, he predicted it would collapse. At the time, that was unthinkable, but he explained that all of the areas that make up the USSR had their own histories and cultures and had little interest in being part of Russia. He was an entertaining guy, had great stories and made his classes fun and interesting. Studying for his exams was easy simply because I felt like I retained everything the man said.

 

[Bison13]

Didnt want to throw some profs under the bus but since some others already have, two specific ones in IE were terrible teachers and 1 was just an *** of a person. Dr Lehtihet was an absolute turd. Terrible teaching but also calling out people because they had a question about what he was showing. Cant believe he wasn't fired for telling an african american female in our class that she was stupid and that she should have learned that in HS. Dr. Cavalier just regurgitated word for word from his textbook that he made you buy for IE 450 and made a new edition every year so you couldnt buy it used. If you went to office hours he would tell you to look in the book and reread it.

Ed Demeter and Andres Frivaulds were good dudes in the department though

 

[Zenophile]

No "Penn State Prof of Note" thread is complete without the requisite mention of Dr. Jackson Spielvogel's History 143 class. I don't have any specific anecdotes to share. Nearly every class was enjoyably engaging to attend.

 

[CentrevilleLion]

My worst professor was Samih Obaid who "taught" statistics. No one could understand this jackass.

I withdrew before I failed.

I had Statistics 301 at 0800 on Tues, Thurs, and Saturdays. I went to the first class and Dr. Ratnaparki (Paki) said, "Velcome to Study Sticks 301". I didn't think I would make it, but I ended up getting a B by focusing on the book more than the lectures, which I slept through anyway.

 

[Auxgym]

The post about Steve Manual blew me away. In particular, it was gratifying to recognize Mike Robinson's gratitude for having Mr. Manual as a teacher. Mike is all, "This guy, he helped me so much, a great influence." We all have our own stories.

Here's mine: I screwed up my first registration in Fall 1974 and ended up in Reading German. I got an F. Afterwards, I go to the Assistant Dean and tell him that I got two Bs and this F in German and maybe it would be appropriate for me, a deaf guy, to be waived from the LA language requirement. "Sounds reasonable. Let me talk to the teacher." Two days later, "I spoke with your instructor. He said your only problem is that you didn't work hard enough." What was also said, implicitly, was "You better cut the ******** and stop making excuses." That German instructor really made a difference for me. The dean too, actually. He was later a great help to me when I was making arrangements to leave PSU (he encouraged me to leave, telling me I was making the right decision). Anyway, the post about Mr. Manual kind of set me off, nice memories. I've had a lot of good people on my side.

Randy Wooldridge.....Finance. Interesting teacher and he gave a **** about me when I struggled to finish it off.

The worst.......Austin Jaffe, Real Estate.......R2 D2 had more human qualities than that robot.