Auld Lang Syne: Best Wishes to Lander Retirees Mike Runyan
William V. Poston Jr.
Both Mike Runyan and his passion for biology were born in Nigeria, where his father was a missionary and where Mike grew up. He entered college as a pre-med student but switched to biology, earning bachelor’s and graduate degrees at the University of South Carolina. He taught primarily freshman nonbiology majors who would go into other careers that, he said, could have a major impact on society’s view of science in general. Botany was another of the courses he taught. Then there is his lifelong interest in snakes. “I’m a frustrated herpetologist,” he said. He kept about 30 snakes, using them mostly in community lectures. He also conducted research that taught him a lot about reptiles. The former Biology Department chair said of his teaching career, “It was thrilling to be able to explain to students what they didn’t understand before.” Runyan and his wife, Deborah, a retired Lander biology lecturer, plan to travel and, he admits, he’ll be on the lookout for various snake species along the way.
Asked about his decision to become a teacher, Bill Poston says, “It’s the best thing I ever did. The best thing was being in a classroom.” He taught writing and inquiry, literature in society and business communications, and he labored to make lessons interesting and show students it was material they could use all their lives. He found it gratifying when it became apparent that students connected with what he was teaching. Poston said he had been teaching in one form or another since 1988. An active-duty Navy veteran, Poston earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Francis Marion University and a master’s from Clemson University. He said his mother, who taught school for 30 years, influenced his decision to become a teacher. She also helped him develop a love for reading. Poston’s wife, Virginia Dumont-Poston, preceded him in retirement. She taught for 19 years in Lander’s Department of English and Foreign Languages.
Associate Professor of Biology – 39 years of service
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By Dave Lorenzatti
Lander Magazine • Fall 2013
Instructor of English – 13 ½ years of service