Dr. James Akenson

James Akenson

My favorite professor would definitely be Dr. James Akenson. At first I wasn't too sure about him, but as the semester progressed, I realized two things. First of all, he could take absolutely anything and make it apply to social studies and present it in a very involved and interesting unit. Secondly, only after I completed his class did I realized that he had passed that insight on to me. He taught me to think outside the box. He made me realize the importance of finding topics of interest of my students and using those interests, I could address state standards and objectives with something other that a dry, redundant text book.

I still email with him on a regular basis. My daughter is now a sophomore at TTU (finance/accounting major) and has thoroughly enjoyed the few opportunities that she had to visit with him. He is truly an amazing teacher, advisor, mentor and friend.

Submitted by
Sharon Taylor
Masters of Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Dan Combs, Dr. Michael Harrison and
Dr. Evan Hart

Dan Combs

Michael Harrison

Evan Hart

My four years at Tennessee Tech were good ones. Although I knew I was lucky to have such great professors and mentors while I was there, I realize it more now that I am at a very large graduate school.

My advisor was Dr. Dan Combs, the chair of the Biology Dept. He was always extremely busy with lots of commitments and research, but always made time to meet with me. He was the most important part of my successful Tech career. He took a personal interest in my needs and always went out of his way to help me and tell me about new oppor-
tunities. He was even supportive in my decision to go into another field in graduate school and helped me with my applications and essays. Dr. Combs went above and beyond what I could ever expect from a professor, mentor or advisor. I am truly lucky to have gotten his help and guidance, and he most definitely deserves to be honored as an outstanding faculty member and mentor!

Drs. Michael Harrison and Evan Hart were also great mentors to me. They were always helpful in allowing me to explore the field of geology, even though I was a biology major at TTU. Their influence and wonder-
ful courses led me to the graduate field of earth science. Because of their support and advice, I now know that I want to be a geology professor, and I hope to impact a few students the way the impacted me. They were also helpful in taking time to review essays I had for scholarships and wrote me many letters of recommendation.

I hope that all three of these professors can be shown some recognition for their helpfulness and support to undergraduates.

Thanks,

Cristina M. Carbajo
Purdue University Doctoral Fellow
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Librarian Christine Jones

Christine Jones

The one person that I remember who encouraged and inspired me very much is Christine Jones, one of the librarians at Tech when I was there, and with whom I worked for a couple of years. I have often thought that if I were to be on a trivia program such as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," I would like to have her for one of my "Phone a Friend" contacts. She is a walking "Book of Knowledge." I remember her for knowing everything that was going on in the library to the degree that if one needed a book or magazine about a particular subject she could go and take it off the shelf without ever having to look it up in the Card Catalogue or the Reader's Guide. When I wrote my letter of application for a job she rewrote it making me look and sound like the best prospect for a teaching job of anyone in the United States.

I admire her very much.

Cleburn Rice
Class of 1956

Send your memories and stories about your favorite professor as well as an explanation of why he or she made such an impact on you to alumni@tntech.edu, and be sure to check out our next issue!