Hi Bernie,
I've been concerned about you. You would
be a great asset to any math dept, including B'ham Southern, but I wasn't sure
how secure (long-term) your position there would be. Ken (Roblee) and I had
been keeping tabs on developments at B'ham Southern, and we were under the
impression that “things were go" for at least the next year and perhaps, beyond.
We had talked, very casually, about trying to figure out if there was a way to
bring you onboard here at Troy, should you suddenly become available.
I am somewhat familiar with the type of situation that you were in at B'ham Southern. My first "real job" was at a place called Central New England College in Massachusetts. I started out in the Math Dept and, in time, migrated over into the Electrical Engineering Dept. (I have degrees in both) It was my intention, "from the get go," to spend my entire career there. I enjoyed the academic atmosphere, and I had great latitude as to how I taught the courses. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like I “fit in” there. If I had been older and less self-absorbed, I would have realized that almost no one “fit in” there. Even faculty members who had been there 25, 30, 35 years didn't seem to have a sense of job security. The president was a composite of contradictions who could do something extremely cruel, inhuman and illegal; and then turn around and do something kind, thoughtful and classy. Part of the problem was that at the drop of a hat, he could become either person. And he was not above firing someone without cause, on a whim. In such situations he was willing to gamble that anyone who sued either him or the college would not be able to survive a protracted legal battle (His degrees were in Accounting and Law). I wanted to leave, but there was no internet back in those days, and it was much more difficult to search for a job in academia - especially when you had to do all of your searching at home after hours, because you would be fired immediately if the president found out that you were looking for another job. On a visit to Alabama during Christmas Break, the head of the math dept at Auburn suggested that I come to Auburn on a double assistantship and get my PhD. That was the "out" that I needed. But as relieved as I was to be out of a bad situation, I was somewhat sad. I loved my students, I loved my colleagues, I loved the courses that I was teaching. I actually felt extremely guilty when it came to my students - I felt as though I had abandoned them. After the move, I corresponded with some of my former colleagues for about a year and a half, and then the news came. The president had absconded with about 20 million dollars and disappeared to "who knows where." The college wasn't able to recover from the loss and closed its doors.
As it turned out, I had made the right decision about two years earlier. Nevertheless, I still missed the place – and in some ways, I still do.
I am excited to share that I've started a new position as Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics at Florida Polytechnic University.
