THEN
and N O W —By Jed Dunstan
Take a walk down memory lane and catch up on the current whereabouts and activities of your favotite Rollins professors.
Hoyt L. Edge
Robert S. Lemon, Jr.
Associate Dean of the Faculty and Hugh F. and Jeannette G. McKean Professor of Philosophy
Professor Emeritus of Art History
Hoyt Edge, who received his Ph.D. in philosophy at Vanderbilt University in 1970, has taught philosophy courses at Rollins for 35 years. In 2002, he made the switch from faculty to administrator when he accepted the position of associate dean of the faculty—“an ideal faculty position that gives me the best of both worlds,” he said. Edge now has a hand in developing programs while being an advocate for the faculty and maintaining his faculty status. He still conducts research, still has the opportunity to teach, and has more time to pursue other interests. Edge, who has taken several student groups to Bali to conduct research, continues to travel to the Indonesian island two to three weeks each year to conduct experiments on meditation. Back on campus, he finds special satisfaction in developing programs for Explorations, the umbrella program aimed at helping first-year students acclimate to college life. He is especially involved in Nexus, a program of “living-learning communities” in which students live and take classes together, and the Rollins Cornell Scholars program, a new mentoring and scholarship program designed to build students into future leaders.
When Bob Lemon accepted a position at Rollins College as an instructor of art in 1973, he had never even been to Winter Park. Lemon grew up in Kansas City and earned a master’s degree in creative writing and a Ph.D. in comparative arts from Ohio University in 1969 and 1975, respectively. He found a permanent home at Rollins. Lemon served as chair of the art department for more than half of his 32 years of teaching at the College. An advocate of experiential teaching and service learning, Lemon led more than 14 student trips to Italy and Latin America. He found these trips affected his life as deeply as the lives of the students he was instructing. More often than not, Lemon would see students make more personal development in just a few weeks abroad than during the rest of the school year. During his tenure at Rollins, Lemon was very involved in numerous exhibitions at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum and the University of Florida’s Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville, helping to curate and catalog the works of various local artists. Today, Lemon still enjoys teaching and mentoring students working on their master’s theses, but on a part-time basis as he eases into retirement and works to perfect his tennis game. In 2005, as he retired from full-time teaching, Lemon was honored with the title of professor emeritus of art history.
“Rollins to a great degree has been my passion. It has never been just a job for me. This has been my life’s work and I have been blessed to be here. During the past 35 years, I have seen Rollins change and progress in very positive ways. I have always found Rollins to be a supportive environment; a small liberal arts community that has given me an outlet for teaching in the broadest sense, not just in the classroom, but through participating in every aspect of campus life. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.” —Hoyt Edge
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ROLLINS ALUMNI RECORD
“I have always enjoyed the ease of communication between student and teacher that occurs in the small-college atmosphere. It is the informality of the student/teacher relationship that gives Rollins its strength. In developing these relationships over the years, I have always gained much joy from teaching and have embraced and appreciated my role as a teacher. Some of my most gratifying memories are the letters I received from students whom I had motivated from settling for a C to graduating as A students.”—Bob Lemon