Long-time educators retiring

Tichenor, Samuelson saying goodbye

 

April 7, 2010--Two educators with long and distinguished histories will say goodbye to Trine University’s classrooms and campus when they retire this spring.

Dr. Dolores Tichenor, professor of mathematics, Assistant Vice President for Study Abroad and Director of Institutional Planning and Development retires after 43 years at the university. Trine has recognized her many contributions with numerous awards throughout the years, including its Woman of Distinction, McKetta Excellence in Teaching, Barrenbrugge Excellence in Teaching and Jannen Renaissance Scholar awards.

Tichenor joined Tri-State University, now Trine, in September 1967 as a mathematics instructor. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1969, associate professor in 1979 and professor in 1984. She was chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from 1984-1993 and dean of the School of Arts and Sciences 1993-1995 and 2001-2006. 

She served as Vice-President of Institutional Planning and Analysis from 1995-2001 and Director of Institutional Planning and Analysis from 2001 to the present. She was Strategic Planning and Assessment Committee co-chair from 2000-2003, and has served as Assistant Vice President for Study Abroad since 2006, sharing her passion for foreign travel with students and faculty.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Mundelein College in Chicago, where she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. After completing a master’s degree in mathematics from Purdue University, she took leave from her Tri-State teaching job to complete a doctoral degree in statistics at the University of Missouri-Rolla, now Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Dr. Lawrence Samuelson retires after 27 years with the university. During his tenure he has built a distinguished record of scholarly work, service, teaching and community building.

Samuelson earned numerous McKetta Awards for Excellence in Teaching, and has collected as many faculty awards as any member in university history. He has served on the Faculty Promotions Committee since 1992, and served 12 years on the key Curriculum and Academics Committee of the faculty.

Noted for his community work, he has bicycled with a team of university faculty and community leaders for over a decade, has interacted with students in the pep band and on overseas trips, has daily maintained a cross-school coffee break to further strengthen university ties and contributed to the community as a musician for local school plays.

His many support roles for the university include serving as a Science Fair judge on campus for 25 years, and once as a judge at the International Science Fair. He has also advised numerous student groups across the years, and served as the first liaison for Trine University’s Air Force ROTC Program in 2008.

He completed a bachelor’s degree at Iowa State and a doctorate in physics at Michigan State. Before joining Tri-State in 1983, he worked on fusion reactions at the Princeton Plasma Physics Project, bringing world-class expertise to the Tri-State/Trine faculty. After beginning as a science professor who also taught electrical engineering, he transferred his energies into the full-time teaching of engineering while remaining an avid scientist, especially in the areas of weather measurement and remote sensing.