Hubert Park

Hubert Vern Park was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, on December 29, 1911, and raised on a farm there. He received his undergraduate degree from Lenoir-Rhyne College. While there he grew to love college mathematics and set as his aim in life to teach mathematics at a university. Anyone even slightly familiar with his record will tell you that not only did he fulfill his aim but he did so with great distinction. In 1931 Park went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to pursue graduate work in mathematics. In 1934, before finishing his degree, he accepted a position as instructor at North Carolina State College. The same year the department hired its first two Ph.D.'s: J. G. Estes (MIT) and J. M . Clarkson (Cornell). Park continued working on his Ph.D. while he was teaching at State and completed his doctorate in 1939.

There is an interesting anecdote concerning Estes, whose Ph. D. was in Aeronautical Engineering and who also was a pilot. One day in the spring of 1935, Hubert and his wife Mary Alice were watching Estes fly at the old Raleigh airport near Garner. Estes asked Hubert if he would like to fly with him. Before Hubert could say anything, Mary Alice replied, "No, he doesn't". Hubert and his wife left the airport and returned home. Shortly thereafter they received a call from the airport informing them that Estes had died in a crash. Ever since, Hubert has had the good sense to listen to the good sense of his wife.

Park felt his "calling" was in teaching college mathematics. His attitude toward teaching was, in his own words:

"I try to be the best teacher I can be. I want students to know I am available to help them with any of their problems in any way that I can"
He developed his method of teaching after many years of trial and error and observation of his own teachers. Here is the "Park" method:

Park's diligent devotion to teaching resulted in many awards. He received Outstanding Teacher Awards in 1966, 1969. He served as the first Chairman of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NCSU 1972-1973. He was cited in the top 5 percent of the faculty for those "Who contributed most to my education while at NCSU" in 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976. In 1975 the alumni honored Park with an Alumni Distinguished Professor Award. In 1982 he received the Alumni Association Award of Merit. He was clearly very pleased: "The Alumni Association Award of Merit means more to me than anything else. It indicates something about the alumni: They haven't forgotten me".

The Alumni Distinguished Professor award carried with it a monetary award of $4,000. Park used this money to set up mathematics scholarships, the Mary Alice and Hubert V. Park Scholarships. The Parks continued to contribute to this endowment for many years. These awards are made to rising juniors or seniors in mathematics who have demonstrated high academic ability. Financial need is also considered.

Besides his work in the classroom, Dr. Park was an important member of the department administration. He was Assistant Department Head from 1962 to 1972, except for one year as Acting Head in 1967-68. He was Associate Head of the Mathematics Department from 1972 to until his retirement in 1978. His main responsibilities were coordinating classroom instruction, assignment of classes to instructors and handling student complaints and requests. He was fair and generous in his treatment of students and instructors. However, if you were an instructor and were late or missed a class, you would get no sympathy from Park.

In addition to teaching and departmental matters, Dr. Park contributed to the university and the mathematics community at large. Following is a list of some of his activities:

President of the NCSU chapter of Sigma Xi, 1961 - 62.
Director of the NSF Institute for Secondary Math Teachers, 1959 - 1965.
Director of the NSF Institute for Retraining Retired Armed Forces Personnel, 1968 - 1970.
Chairman of the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America, 1973-74.
Member Phi Kappa Phi.
Member NCSU Faculty Senate.
Chairman of Admissions Committee for several years.
Scholarships and Student Aid Committee.
Teaching Effectiveness and Evaluation Committee.
Traffic Committee.
Member of Board of Trustees of Lenoir Rhyne College, 1965-68
Awarded the Lenoir-Rhyne Alumni Association "Distinguished Alumnus Award", 1987.
Listed in Who's Who in American Education.

In 1986, Hubert Park was awarded the Watauga Medal, the highest non-academic honor that the university bestows.

The Watauga Medal was established by the Board of Trustees to honor those persons who have made notable contributions to the advancement of the University. It cannot be earned solely by prominence, scholarship or personal success. Recipients are determined after a selection process, involving faculty and administration officials on the campus, with further review by the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees.

The Medal's name derives from the Watauga Club, an organization founded in Raleigh in May 1884. In 1885 the Club initiated the establishment of a Land-Grant Institution. The result of their efforts was the founding of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts on March 7, 1897. The name Watauga originates from an Indian word meaning "the land beyond."

Previous recipients of the medal include, Dr. Carey Bostian, Dr. John Caldwell, former Chancellors of NCSU; Mr. Roy Park, a New York businessman (no relation to Dr. Park); Mr. A. E. Finley, a Raleigh businessman; Professor Gertrude Cox, NCSU statistician; Mr. Frank Daniels, Sr., Raleigh newspaper publisher and Mr. James Hunt, Jr., former Governor of North Carolina.

Chancellor Poulton made the following remarks in presenting the Medal to Professor Park:

"In honoring Dr. Park, it has been necessary to create exclusively for him, a new academic title--'Professor Extraordinaire.' The reason is simple: he has earned or been awarded every other title of distinction as a teacher available at the University. He was selected as an Alumni Distinguished Professor in 1975 and returned the monetary award to the Alumni Association to establish a scholarship.. He was cited four times by alumni as the teacher who had contributed the most to their education. He won the University's Outstanding Teacher Award twice and was the first chairman of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers,. He has served in administrative capacities in mathematics, directed special training for mathematics teachers, and been president of the NCSU Scientific Society of Sigma Xi. His dedication for some 50 years, since his appointment here in 1934, is summed up in a tribute of colleagues and his former students: 'His door was always open, students were always welcome.' He has taught without compensation since he turned 72-- and he's still at it. A professor who really loves to teach."

Hubert Park married Mary Alice the same year he started to teach at State. Mary Alice was a registered nurse who graduated from Duke University. She did not practice nursing, instead her career was in raising four children and providing a comfortable home for her family. The children: Dick, Betty, Alice and Vern all graduated from college, the girls from UNC Greensboro and the boys from NCSU. Dr. Park drew up plans for a house on Darien Drive and constructed it with the help of two carpenters. He did all the cabinetry work himself. True to the old saying that you can take the boy out of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the boy, Hubert maintained a large vegetable and flower garden behind his home. Mary Alice tended the Rose garden and was famous for her bouquets which she generously provided for many departmental and church functions. The garden was inside the belt line in a prime real estate area. Bob Winton, who joined State in 1935 used to joke "Hubert has the most expensive farm land in the county."

The Parks loved to entertain friends, colleagues and members of their church with a supper often followed by a lively game of bridge. Mary Alice died in 1997 after 63 years of marriage. Hubert remained in the house and kept up his garden until he reached 90. An injury finally forced him to leave his lovely home and move to a retirement community.

--N. J. Rose (September, 2002)

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