Faculty Retirements & Obituaries Sad News – The Passing of Dr. Michael Bailey
Dr. Mike Bailey, former chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology.
Dr. Michael Preston Bailey, retired chair and professor of criminal justice, died Dec. 22, 2018, from an aggressive form of lymphoma. He proudly served in the United Sates Navy during the Vietnam War. Dr. Bailey worked for 28 years as a firearms instructor and as a Deputy Sheriff of the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office. He came to CSU in 2004, where he served as Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology from 2011- 2018. He retired in May 2018. Dr. Bailey earned three of his four degrees from Columbus State: his AAS in Criminal Justice in 1993, his BS in Criminal Justice in 1994, and his Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Justice Administration in 1996. He completed his Doctor of Public Administration from the University of Alabama in 2005. Over the years, Dr. Bailey served the university well by becoming Quality Matters certified, by developing new online courses for the major, and by teaching a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level (including Cybercrime, Crime Scene Reconstruction, and Police Community Relations) for both CSU and the West Georgia Police Academy. Twice he was nominated for Educator of the Year (2006, 2009). Dr. Bailey is survived by his wife Lucy, his two children (Christopher and Adrianne), and four grandchildren. He will be fondly remembered as trustworthy, fair, compassionate, easy going and kind.
Dr. Nancy Moore – Retired After 49 Years of Teaching Assistant Professor of English Dr. Nancy Moore, who retired at the end of summer term 2018, began teaching for CSU part time in 1983 and full time in 1999. In addition to teaching a variety of core courses, she also taught her specialty areas of Tennessee Williams and Southern Literature. She describes herself as a “reluctant runner, an avid reader, and a forever learner.” A beloved teacher, Dr. Moore was a finalist multiple times for CSU’s Educator of the Year award. The time spent teaching at the university was only a fraction of her total teaching career of almost 49 years. She was inspired to become a teacher because of a speech therapist, Mrs. Mitchell, who helped her overcome stuttering, nervousness, and shyness. Following graduation from then-Columbus College in 1970 (in the first graduation class!), Dr. Moore taught at Baker High School while she completed her master’s degree in education at CSU and became a Teacher of the Year nominee four times of the seven years she taught at Baker. Between giving birth to three children (two girls and a boy), Dr. Moore went on to be one of the first female Infantry School instructors, teaching 250 college graduate officer cadets at a time. After winning “Instructor of the Year” from the Infantry School, she left that civil service position because she won a school board election in Harris County. From that position, she joined the Corporate Training Program at Total System Services (now TSYS). Dr. Moore was eventually promoted to Director of Corporate Training Design at Synovus, Dr. Nancy Moore, retired Assistant Professor of English. the parent company of TSYS at the time. Although she loved the work and the people there, she still longed to teach writing and literature, so she applied to the doctoral program in English at Georgia State University and was accepted. While finishing her Ph.D., Dr. Moore also began teaching full-time at CSU. She completed her Ph.D. at Georgia State University in 2003. Her dissertation director at GSU, Dr. Virginia Carr, had previously taught at CSU when Nancy was an undergraduate and had gained fame as the author of The Lonely Hunter, a biography of Carson McCullers. Failing eyesight caused Dr. Moore to retire earlier than she had planned, but she still edits for several local companies, writes short stories in the voice of a 78-year-old man named Will, and looks forward to teaching one or two occasional classes at CSU. What does she miss most about CSU? Being with students. What does she miss the least? Grading four sets of weekly essays! As a cancer survivor, Dr. Moore has decided to devote her free time to providing transportation to cancer patients who need assistance getting to doctors and treatment centers, and to sitting with people who have cancer and would like company. (Continued on page 13 Letters & Sciences Today
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