on the shoulders of giants
Stepping Out Leads to Success
Vogt credits dean with first push toward opportunities Growing up in the small town of Mulhall, Okla., Calvin Vogt may have come from humble beginnings, but he has proven that anything is achievable with hard work. Vogt’s parents didn’t Calvin Vogt have the opportunity to further their education, and they wanted their son to have what they didn’t. “I think they felt that it somewhat limited their ability to do things,” Vogt says. After graduating from Guthrie High School, Vogt knew he was going to Oklahoma A&M. “It was the only place I ever considered,” Vogt says. “I certainly wasn’t familiar with any other college. I thought we could maybe afford it.” Vogt’s hardworking personality was formed early. For several weeks each summer as a child, Vogt stayed with his aunt and uncle on a farm in southern Oklahoma.
While at Oklahoma A&M, Vogt served all four years in ROTC and was a member of Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, Eta Kappa Nu and Phi Kappa Phi, as well as president of the Engineering Student Council. Vogt says he owes it all to Dean Edward Stapley and EE Dept. head Al (Pop) Naeter for encouraging him to step out of his comfort zone. “Having grown up in such a small town, I was a little timid and wasn’t familiar with those opportunities,” Vogt says. “I never would have dreamed of being president of a student council.” Vogt says Stapley also made it possible for him to teach a laboratory course and grade papers, which helped offset some of his college expenses. “Not only was it help financially, but it taught you that you could go out there and do things you never thought you could do because someone gave you the opportunity and encouraged you,” Vogt says.
“Chopping cotton, scooping wheat and tending livestock helped convince me that I wanted to do something else,” Vogt says.
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