James Wilson
by E. E. Burniston
(from the 1986-1987 Harrelson News)
The department is losing one of its most outstanding faculty members this year, namely James Wilson, Associate Head and Director of Undergraduate Instruction. While all of us will certainly miss Jim as a colleague who is an outstanding teacher and administrator, I personally will deeply feel his loss. He has been an outstanding Associate Head in that no only did he perform admirably but he also did his job with humor and compassion. I know that all of you will join me in wishing him a happy and healthy retirement.
For the record, Jim joined the Mathematics Department in 1957 as an Assistant Professor at a salary of $5,700 a year, after receiving his Ph.D. degree from the University of Florida. During the war he served in the U. S. Army with the rank of Captain and in fact taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from 1951-1954. In July of 1978 he was named Assistant Head of the Department. Over the years Jim has received many honors for his outstanding instruction and happily he will continue to teach for the Department on a part-time basis. The dedication which Jim brought to his duties as an Associate Head has made him one of the most well-known and well-liked individuals on this campus. Administrators and faculty across the campus have long sought his advice and counsel, which he always gave freely and graciously. Likewise, students for many years have recognized him as an individual who will be fair, honest and caring. While any administrator has to frequently say no to a student's request, Jim is one of the very few who has the ability to do so in such a way that the student feels good about it. He has been sought to serve an a seemingly endless list of important committees and he was Chairman of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 1974-75. In short, N.C. State University is losing one of its most outstanding citizens.
A retirement luncheon was held for Jim at the Faculty Club on April 22 and the following comments were part of the toast to Jim on that occasion.
"As you all know Jim Wilson is retiring this coming June 30th. What many of you do not know is the real reason why. In order to understand the real reason you must first know that the highlight of Jim's activities is the Fall Change Day, held in the Coliseum. Jim looks forward to this occasion with so much elation, since there is nothing more he like to do than to spend 10 hours in the Coliseum where the temperature is over 100 degrees, mixing with the happy and contented students and conversing with the sweaty, jolly faculty who work on the desk.. You will note that these Change Days are now almost a thing of the past since Student Affairs had faithfully promised that the Drop/Add procedure will now be done by touch-tone telephone. Thus, you see, technological advances have made this annual saturnalia obsolete, and thus robbed of this joyance, Jim has no option but to retire."