Robert Savage

I was my parent's Valentine's Day present in 1933, born that day in Winterville, North Carolina. My public school days were spent in southeastern North Carolina, in the small, rural community of Penderlea. I decided to follow my brother to State and major in Electrical Engineering. It took me a year to discover that the field of Electrical Engineering was not in my destiny. My best grades were in mathematics courses that I had taken, which led me to the decision to major in mathematics. Most of my adult life was spent at North Carolina State University, as an undergraduate during the time period 1951-55, as a candidate for a Masters Degree during the time period 1957-60, and as a faculty member from 1964-97. I was an instructor at the University of Florida from 1960 to 1964.

While an undergraduate at NCSU, I participated in the ROTC program, and upon graduation was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Reserves. I served in the Army Security Agency from 1955 to 1957. After this active duty tour, I remained in the Reserves and retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During the time spent in the Reserves, I completed Command and General Staff College and the National Defense College. I had the opportunity to teach Command and general Staff College Classes for the Reserves.

One of the Carrels
in the Audio-Visual Center
As a faculty member at NCSU, my duties consisted primarily of teaching courses for undergraduates. This, for me, was a very rewarding experience. Teaching motivated me to explore and develop strategies to help students learn more effectively and thoroughly. Armstrong Maltbie and I developed a "Proctorial System of Instruction" for MA 111 with encouragement and support from Dr. Nicholas Rose. This was a system of instruction that allowed students, with assistance from the instructor and undergraduate proctors, to advance at their own pace through the course material. Video-tapes were made corresponding to each lesson for several courses and made available for student viewing in the Audio-Visual Tutorial Center which had been completed using NSF and matching University funds. The Department of Mathematics was among the first to experiment with interactive video. An interface was built in the Computing Center that allowed a North Star computer to control a video-player. Interactive video lessons were made available in the Audio-Visual Tutorial Center. These lessons were also used by some schools in North Carolina.

I had the opportunity to serve as Assistant Dean in our college during the time period 1987-97. My primary job was to recruit academically talented high-school students to matriculate in one of our degree programs. The many visits both on- and off-campus with prospective students proved to be both a stimulating and enjoyable "second" career.

During my tenure as Assistant Dean, I explored the idea of beginning academic camps, with the thought that these might be as useful as sports camps for athletes. Thus, academic camps in the areas of mathematics and statistics; chemistry; physics; and marine, earth and atmospheric sciences were started on campus for high-school students who wished to attend during their summer break. Camps in some form continue to be taught under the auspices of the Science House.

One of my most enjoyable experiences was conducting the annual "Honor a Teacher Banquet." Dick Patty, who was Head of the Physics Department, pointed out to me that these banquets were being held at Furman University.I decided to hold these for our college. Consequently, each year ten students in our college with the highest grade-point averages were asked to select a former teacher at the secondary level, and these teachers were invited to the banquet where both the student and the teacher were honored.

In an effort to recruit students of diverse nationalities and race, Wandra Hill and I started a program that became the forerunner of the Imhotep Academy, which is presently under the auspices of the Science House at NCSU. Local community leaders worked to inform and recruit students for this program.

I will always cherish the memory of my many pleasant associations in the Department and the Dean's Office and feel fortunate to have had a career helping young adults along the way to their own careers. I am grateful to students and colleagues who thought me worthy of a nomination to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers. Like all teachers, I feel I learned just as much as I taught. Many thanks to those who have helped me along the way.

-- February, 2003

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