Students may think they’re the only ones learning in courses and earning degrees, but some professors are also working towards higher educational goals.
By being a faculty member at Wilkes, professors are able to take courses and earn degrees with no tuition fee. Professor of environmental engineering and earth and environmental sciences, Dr. Brian Redmond, is one of the professors that has taken advantage of this free learning.
Originally Redmondearned three degrees in geology; a BS, an MS and a PhD. But he did not stop there. While being a professor here at Wilkes he has earned several more degrees. He has earned a BS in chemistry, a BA in physics, a BA in English and he is currently working on a BA in history.
Redmondsays he always enjoyed taking classes. Even in high school he would rather take classes to learn instead of going to study halls.Redmondhas been a professor at Wilkes for 36 years, and he has been taking just one course a semester to earn all that he has accomplished.
“A little of something for a long time can add up big,”Redmondsays.
Redmondplans to continue to take more courses to gain more knowledge about other things. He hopes to take other courses that interest him such as foreign languages, philosophy and math.
Another professor that has sought lifelong learning is professor of anthropology and sociology, Dr. Jim Merryman. Originally Merryman earned a BA in history, with a minor in philosophy. He then earned an MA and a PhD in anthropology.
This being his 23rd year as a professor at Wilkes, Merryman has earned an MA in creative writing and taken a computer and art course along the way.
“There is no price of tuition, it’s a great benefit to have access of these sources and teachers,” Merryman says.
Merryman hopes to talk a jazz dance class and some environmental, geology, astronomy, music theory and integrative media courses.
Redmondsays it is a great benefit to earn so many degrees in many different areas of study, but the biggest benefit of taking advantage of lifelong learning is gaining a lot of knowledge in many different topics because it is always a good thing to be educated in lots of curriculum.
“It’s not as much about the degrees as it is the courses. It keeps the mind alive, it makes everything more interesting, and it gives you bigger, brighter pictures,”Redmondsays. ”You see surprising associations to things that seem so different.”