Fond Farewells to Retiring Faculty 2020

August 6, 2020

This year UNC Asheville says farewell to 10 remarkable faculty members. We’ll miss having them here on campus with us, but we wish them all the best in their future endeavors, and we’ll be forever grateful for the impact they’ve had on our students and our University.

Charles Bennett

Charles Bennett

Professor, Physics and Astronomy

Charles Bennet joined the faculty at UNC Asheville in 1982 and immediately established a laser physics lab; he involved undergraduates in his laser research throughout his 38 years here. His research areas include optical measurements on high temperature plasmas and infrared imaging applications using heterodyne detection. His laser work with undergraduates and his work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory gave him a research record of more than 50 journal articles, presentations at conferences, and research grants.

Bennett received one of the two 1996-1997 UNC Asheville Distinguished Feldman Awards for his research. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was director of the Center of Teaching and Learning (CTL) for several years, and became a proponent of online delivery of the curriculum, which was just getting started back then. Bennett also was named director of the Pisgah Astronomical Research and Science Educational Center (PARSEC ) for most of the 2000s, which was a research consortium between the radio telescope site PARI (the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) and local universities.

 

Dean Brock

Dean Brock

Professor, Computer Science

Dean Brock earned his graduate degree in computer science from MIT, as well as an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics from Duke. He’s described by his colleagues as “a native WNC renaissance man who is devoted to teaching and to our students.” He authored and edited Mastering Tools, Taming Daemons: UNIX for the Wizard Apprentice and is an accomplished musician.

After coming to UNC Asheville, Brock quickly took a leadership role in the department, and served as chair of computer science for 20 years. He frequently served as a corporate consultant both in the U.S. and internationally. Over the last thirty years at UNC Asheville, Brock taught and developed 51 distinct courses.

 

John Eric Gant

John Eric Gant

Assistant Professor, Spanish and Africana Studies

John Eric Gant came to UNC Asheville in 2000, and is known for being a committed teacher who can span the curriculum offered both within and beyond his department. He is regarded as an expert in his field, and recognized for both his passion for his subject matter and compassion for his students. In 2015 he received the UNC Asheville’s Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award, which recognizes one faculty member whose service to students goes beyond the classroom and who have distinguished themselves as extraordinary mentors and advisors.

Gant created a Liberal Arts Core course on African influence in the Americas, as well as a course on the Caribbean tradition for Arts and Ideas.  Further, he has developed and taught in study abroad initiatives in led students on trips abroad to Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Ghana, Mexico and Nigeria.

During his 20 years at UNC Asheville Gant has served on major committees, search committees, task forces, and off campus commitments, such as delivering a Spanish class to medical professionals in the area.

 

Tommy Hays
Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays

Core MLAS Faculty, Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program

Tommy Hays has had significant impact on not only UNC Asheville’s Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences program, but Western North Carolina’s community of students and writers through the Great Smokies Writing Program. Hays came to UNC Asheville as an adjunct in 1991 and soon after began directing the Great Smokies Writing Program.  He continued in this role until his retirement.  In addition, Hays has been a lecturer for the Masters of Liberal Arts and Science program (MLAS), teaching creative writing.  He has also taught intro to creative writing as well as advanced fiction writing workshops in the English department.

Hays is a critically acclaimed author and literary award winner. His novel The Pleasure Was Mine has been used in numerous community reads and was read on NPR’s Radio Reader as well as SC ETV radio.  His novel In the Family Way won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.  An established writer of adult fiction, Tommy most recently wrote a young adult novel, What I Came to Tell You.

 

David Hopes

David Hopes

Professor, English

David Hopes came to UNC Asheville in 1983 to head the Creative Writing Program; soon after, he added playwriting and creative nonfiction courses to the curriculum. As a testament to his passion for teaching, one of Hopes’ student’s comments about his Romantic to Modern Literature course: “Anyone who can get me all worked up about Blake, Coleridge, and Keats has got to be special. This man changes lives.”

Among Hopes’ community engaged collaborations, he regularly acted in plays staged by the Drama Department, sang with the Music Department’s choral groups, and served as art critic for the Asheville Citizen Times and columnist for The Laurel of Asheville. He is a founding member of the Asheville Gay Men’s Chorus, and an associate of Magnetic Theater and a partner in The Sublime Theater.

Hopes’ works include A Sense of the Morning and Bird Songs of the Mesozoic, collections of nature essays; and A Childhood in the Milky Way, a memoir. His poetry collections include The Basswood Tree, Blood Rose, and A Dream of Adonis. He has twice won the North Carolina Playwrights Prize, and four of his plays have been produced by the Magnetic Theater in Asheville.

 

Kevin Moorhead

Kevin Moorhead

Professor, Environmental Studies

Kevin Moorhead came to UNC Asheville 28 years ago, and was the fourth faculty member in what was then the Environmental Studies program.  He played an integral role as Environmental Studies transitioned from a program to a department. From his arrival, Moorhead was responsible for developing courses supporting several academic tracks that evolved into the present-day concentrations: Earth science, ecology and environmental biology, and environmental management and policy. His strong leadership and early vision helped guide the Environmental Studies Department as it grew into one of the largest departments on campus, with a national reputation for excellence.

Moorhead’s university service included elected and voluntary positions, as well as positions for which he was recommended and personally invited.  His reputation on campus as a top teacher and researcher, along with his ability to work as a team player made him a sought-after committee member.

Moorhead won many awards and accolades at UNC Asheville, starting with a Faculty Appreciation Award just one year after his arrival. He won the Distinguished Teacher Award in 2003, a Ruth and Leon Feldman Award for Scholarly Achievement in 2004, and the UNC Asheville Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008.

Over his 28 years at UNC Asheville, more than 3,000 students passed through his classroom. His students came away with a deep appreciation of soils, wetlands, chemistry, farming and food production, and natural resource management.  Moorhead had high standards and was known for his rigorous grading and challenging expectations of his students. Nevertheless, his courses filled quickly during pre-registration, often with waiting lists.

 

Steve Patch

Steven Patch

Professor, Mathematics

Steve Patch began his career at UNC Asheville in 1984 as a statistician in the Department of Mathematics. In 1988 he cofounded the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at UNC Asheville, which served as a non-partisan, unbiased source of research on lead, arsenic, mercury, and other environmental exposures to the public for two decades. EQI is now a non-profit lab where Patch continues to be active.

Patch’s research activity was incredibly high with 53 publications, 108 technical reports and 115 grants. Some of his work has had great impact in public policy, notably the use of lead in canned food in Brazil, the use of arsenic in pressed lumber in the United States and the development of an on-going survey of lead in 200 streams, rivers and lakes of western North Carolina.

Students who engaged in research under Patch’s mentorship were enriched by an active, real-world environment for statistical applications and addressing the technical and theoretical issues that arise in data analysis. Patch exemplified excellence in the classroom as well. He typically received highest marks in all of his student evaluations. Students consistently comment on his caring personality and how they appreciate his ability to use real life examples in class. Patch took leadership in developing and rethinking the statistics curriculum, including writing a $98,000 grant for a computer-based classroom, a model still in use.

In 1999, he received an Excellence in Teaching Award for the Natural Sciences and 2008, he received the Distinguished Teacher Award for UNC Asheville. In 2001, he won the UNC Asheville Feldman Award for Scholarship.

His campus service includes Faculty Senate and many other major university committees including Campus-based Tuition Task Force, Master Plan Updates Committee, Minority Affairs Commission and the Tenure Task Force.

 

David Steele

David Steele

Professor, Mathematics

David Steele began his career at UNC Asheville in 1990, choosing our school because of the emphasis on excellence in teaching. He exemplified that high standard through his next three decades receiving strong reviews and praise from students in all levels of math classes. He brought a humility and humor to every course, with students consistently remarking on his love of mathematics, enthusiasm for learning and availability outside the classroom. Steele also regularly taught Humanities 124, and developed and presented a regular lecture on ancient mathematics.

In addition to regular service within the department, Steele served in USTEP (University-School Teacher Education Partnership) for fifteen years, mentoring beginning teachers in the area. His care of access to quality mathematics education was evident in his participation in the Jump Start program when it first began, and teaching algebra at the Foothills Correctional Institute one summer on behalf of a UNC Asheville prison program. He regularly volunteered to teach extra classes or take on additional students to make sure everyone who wanted to take a math class could do so.

 

Scott Walters

Scott Walters

Professor, Drama

Scott Walters began his career at UNC Asheville in 1998, as the new chair of the Drama Department. He created over 25 different courses at UNC Asheville, and was nominated for a UNC Asheville teaching award 10 times, receiving the award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities, 2014-15. He has consistently had the highest student evaluations within the department, and the students will miss his Socratic teaching methods as it produced many critical thinkers and compassionate human beings. He also directed more than 20 UNC Asheville theater productions.

Walters has produced a combination of traditional publications, including a textbook in its second edition, instructor manuals, book reviews, several essays in Harold Bloom’s Literary Themes series, and non-traditional, internet publications. He is a nationally-known thought-leader and blog influencer on topics related to the arts in rural communities and innovation and entrepreneurship in the theatre.

As one of his students said, “I hope you don’t think retirement will let you get too far away. For me, you’re a mentor for life.”

 

Wayne Kirby

Wayne Kirby

Ruth Paddison Distinguished Professor, Music

Wayne Kirby taught at UNCA from 1983-2019, serving as chair of the Department of Music for 19 of those years. His compositions and artworks have been performed and exhibited at Carnegie Recital Hall, Symphony Space, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (Museum of Modern Art/NYC), 80 Washington Square East Galleries, North Carolina Museum of Art and other venues. His collaborations with New Media artist Lei Han have been exhibited in Finland, Russia, Spain, Brazil and the United States. He is a graduate of Juilliard and holds graduate degrees in music and studio art from Yale and New York University. He served on the faculty of New York University as director of the Music Technology Program.

In 1999, Kirby developed the Kirby Method of Auditory Integration Training, a therapy used principally by children with autism. This technique is delivered using the Kirby Auditory Modulation System (KAMS), which is a computer-based auditory delivery system developed for classroom, clinical, home and research applications.

In 2009, he founded the Bob Moog Electronic Music Studio at UNC Asheville. In addition to his music classes, Kirby also taught in the UNC Asheville’s Asian Studies Program as 8th Dan Black Belt Senior Master Instructor of Taekwon-Do. A member of the boards of the Madison County Arts Council and the Western North Carolina Pilots Association Educational Foundation, he has served as Guardian ad Litem with the 28th Judicial District since 2016.

 

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