Tarleton grieves loss of Dr. Christopher Guthrie Dr. Christopher E. Guthrie, longtime Tarleton State University professor of history and head of the Department of Social Sciences, passed away Monday, Nov. 3. He was 65. Guthrie joined the Tarleton faculty in 1982 as an assistant professor of history, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses including the history of western civilization, the French Revolution and imperial Russia, and topics in modern European history. He married fellow Tarleton faculty member Dr. Teresa Davidian, head of Tarleton’s Department of Fine Arts, on June 19, 1998, in Boston, Mass. Guthrie authored or had scholarly articles appear in more than 15 publications, including a book, The Legacy of John Tarleton: The History of Tarleton State University, 1899-1999. He reviewed and presented multiple papers at various conferences across the United States. At the time of his death, he was completing a book on Philippe Egalitý. The Faculty Fellows selected Guthrie to give the inaugural Last Lecture, which drew more than 600 current and former students, faculty, staff and family members just weeks before his death.
Gillespie named to Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators Dr. Joseph Gillespie, professor of kinesiology, is one of 11 faculty members in The Texas A&M University System named as a 2015 recipient of the Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators. The academy recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of teacher education and highlights the role of the A&M System in producing K-12 teachers for the state of Texas. Gillespie, who came to Tarleton in 1973 as head track coach and assistant football coach, was chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education, athletics director and spent 16 years in university administrative capacities, including dean of the College of Education.
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Faculty Focus
Dr. Joanna Shaw
Professor’s challenge ignites student caring
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ssistant Professor Dr. Joanna Shaw challenged students in her Business Ethics class last fall to join together as a cohesive group and accomplish a project that would directly impact someone’s life. How students answered the challenge amazed and touched her, the project’s honorees, and even President F. Dominic Dottavio, who awarded Shaw a Tarleton Core Values Coin for Civility. “I want students to learn that they can impact the world and that one small idea can snowball and grow,” Shaw said. “There is a disconnect between what goes on in class and the reality of the world. My job as a teacher is to tie in class material with what happens outside the classroom.” The 23 students in Shaw’s class decided to honor two Environmental Service staff members who toil to maintain campus buildings every day. Students honored Rose Sullivan, who works in the College of Business Administration building, and Richard Dorman, who maintains athletics facilities. Students wrote notes of appreciation to Rose and Richard and raised money for them as tokens of appreciation for their work. Word quickly spread across campus, and Shaw’s students collected