YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 29 (1969-1994
and 2003-present)

POSITION: Professor of chemistry

NOW: Semi-retired, teaching chemistry part time

Margaret Rodenburg says she came to Kettering College because she was comfortable with the faith-based atmosphere. During her years of teaching, she has enjoyed working with the students and seeing them mature socially and intellectually. She also appreciates her many colleagues, particularly registrar Eugene Cowling, nursing program director Anna May Vaughan, and Robert Williams, provost for Kettering College from 1983 to 1990. In 2004, Rodenburg stopped teaching full time and now team-teaches with her husband, Bill.

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 35
(before and after retirement, 1970–2002
and 2004–present)

POSITION: Taught psychiatric nursing and human growth and development

NOW: Retired and teaching clinicals in psychiatric nursing part time

“Teaching is a good thing,” says Lorraine Beaven. In her 35 years at Kettering College, Beaven has enjoyed seeing students catch on to what they are learning. She fondly remembers receiving a phone call from a former student whose complaints during college melded into a compliment of the highest order for a teacher: She learned how to think in Beaven’s class. Two years after retiring, after her husband had passed away, Beaven started teaching clinicals again. On this return experience, she notes, “A teacher can retire comfortably when they see their students surpass them.”

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 24 (1976–2000, though she continued working part time for another two years)

POSITION: Professor of biological sciences

NOW: Retired and traveling, bird-watching, social planning, and writing textbooks

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 31 (1971–2002)

POSITION: Head of the biomedical electronics technology department

NOW: Retired and enjoying traveling and bird-watching with Edith

The Applegates have seen many changes at Kettering College over the years. Stan helped establish the department of biomedical electronics technology, which eventually closed. Edith says she enjoyed helping students succeed and fulfill their ambitions and dreams. Teaching gave her great fulfillment: “I enjoyed teaching and wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else,” she says. She has so many good memories that she won’t name a favorite. Working at Kettering College also gave her an opportunity to write textbooks—something she continues to do in her retirement.

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 23 (1981–2004)

POSITION: Professor

NOW: Retired and enjoying genealogy
and cooking

Malcolm Caviness was in elementary school when he realized that he wanted to teach. Having grown up in a family of educators, he was encouraged to teach at the college level and came to Kettering College. He says he is pleased by the College’s growth over the years; when he started, the humble computer lab had only a handful of Apple 2 computers. Over the next 23 years, Caviness taught algebra, physics, computer literacy, and an occasional chemistry. He says he loved doing experiments with his students and especially enjoyed students’ moments of discovery. Caviness says his experiments today are in the kitchen.

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 24 (1967–1991)

POSITION: Eugene was registrar and director of admissions; he later became academic dean. Mabel was the bookstore manager.

NOW: Happily retired for 16 years, they are involved with their church and volunteer at the Good Neighbor House. They enjoy camping and spending the summer in northern Michigan.

Eugene says providence brought him to Kettering College 40 years ago at the invitation of George Nelson, the first president of Kettering Memorial Hospital. In their time at Kettering College, both Eugene and Mabel served the staff and students, doing “whatever needed to be done.” Eugene says he loved seeing students—particularly those who struggled—graduate, pass their state boards, and make lifelong commitments to their professions. Mabel says she enjoyed making sure the bookstore had everything students and faculty needed. The Cowlings say they both enjoyed seeing the staff committed to helping the college and the students ultimately succeed.

YEARS AT KETTERING COLLEGE: 25 (1982–present)

POSITION: Professor of math and computers

NOW: Semi-retired; tutors students in math

“I like working with students better than going to committee meetings,” Ed Pecce says with a chuckle. Among Pecce’s many contributions over his tenure at Kettering College was the founding of the College Senate. Having retired from his full-time faculty position, Pecce tutors students in math four days a week and says he relishes their success.