{"55758":{"#nid":"55758","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Retiring Community Members Recall Time at Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENext week, members of the Georgia\nTech community will be feted at the annual retirement dinner. Themed \u201cAloha\nRetirement,\u201d the event will celebrate the combined hundreds of years spent by\nfaculty and staff members\u2014helping students, aiding fellow Tech employees,\nassisting with campus visitors\u2014who every day are the public face of Georgia\nTech.\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome of the Institute\u2019s retiring\ncolleagues take a moment to reminisce about their time at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollege of Architecture Professor\nElizabeth A. Dowling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\n\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Day:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cI actually started\nat Georgia Tech as a student in 1966. I had attended a small private school\nwith 22 seniors, and my first day was terrifying\u2014thousands of people in one\nplace was an experience I never had before. I also thought there would be more\nthan 200 women at Tech. The fellows liked to refer to us as \u2018Co-Techs.\u2019 My teaching began as a part-timer\nin 1973. That was 37 years ago, thousands of students ago, hundreds of\ncolleagues ago, and I don\u2019t recall it. I applied for a tenure track position\nafter receiving my Ph.D. from UPenn [University of Pennsylvania] in 1981.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOutstanding Memories: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s hard to\npick out one. I recall once showing up to teach an 8 a.m. class and realizing I\nwas still wearing my bedroom slippers. One special memory was coming to the\nfinal exam and finding a can of Budweiser on the podium with a thanks for the\nquarter and the note: \u2018This Bud\u0027s for you.\u2019 I also started a summer program in\nItaly and took students there for 17 consecutive summers\u2014so many great\nmemories.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Mathematics Academic\nProfessional Rena Brakebill\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\n\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Day:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cI was hired as a part-time instructor in the School of Mathematics\nin 1982. However, my first day at Tech was in 1972 as an architecture undergraduate\nstudent. I switched to Engineering Science and Mechanics [earning a bachelor\u2019s\nand master\u2019s]. While in the ESM program, I was hired to be a Math Lab tutor and\ngrader. After\nreceiving a master\u2019s in ESM, I decided to pursue a degree in Mathematics [master\u2019s\nin Applied Mathematics]. My first term as an instructor wasn\u0027t different than\nmy graduate student years\u2014other than not having to attend classes.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnusual\nor Exciting Moment:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cA crazy \u2018escaped prisoner\u2019 ran through Physics Lecture\nHall No. 1 during my math lecture a few years ago. It turns out the \u2018prisoner\u2019\nwas just a student dressed up in a black-and-white striped outfit who belonged\nto a student organization that decided to do this as a stress-reducer for Tech\nstudents.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAssociate\nVice Provost of Enrollment Services Deborah Smith\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\n\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Day:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cMy first day on the job was in January 1981, the first day of Phase\nII registration. I was an admissions counselor, and the hallway [of the\nbuilding] was filled with students who needed an overload slip or permission to\ntake a certain class. A big\nstudent from Alabama\u2014he was a wrestler\u2014had come to campus to appeal the\ndecision which denied his admission to Georgia Tech, which in turn was denied.\nHe just broke down and cried, sobbing in my office. I figured if I could get\nthrough that, I could get through anything.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBiggest\nAccomplishment:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cA few years ago, my husband and I created a needs-based\nscholarship for deserving students. It took a few years to endow it, but it\u2019s\nnice to be able to help students in some way.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWe at\nGeorgia Tech wish all the retiring faculty, researchers and staff a safe\njourney to wherever life takes them, and we thank them for their many years of\nservice and dedication to the White and Gold.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome of the Institute\u2019s retiring\ncolleagues take a moment to reminisce about their time at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-05-14 09:47:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:57","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"55759":{"id":"55759","type":"image","title":"Campanile","body":null,"created":"1449175556","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:45:56","changed":"1475894494","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:34","alt":"Campanile","file":{"fid":"190350","name":"campanile-sunset.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/campanile-sunset_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/campanile-sunset_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":41303,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/campanile-sunset_0.jpg?itok=atFBJjDw"}}},"media_ids":["55759"],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}