Wayne A. Pryor

By the time I had completed my undergraduate degree I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. Many of the dedicated teachers at the small college I attended set an example of excellence that was truly inspiring. They were caring, had time for individual students, taught important materials in a clear and concise manner, and were deeply interested in their subject areas and in transmitting that information to us. I wanted to be like them. When I was a senior and the department head asked me to teach several lower level laboratory courses in geology, I was thrilled and became hooked on teaching. In graduate school I again encountered many dedicated teachers and mentors who would later serve as teacher role models; I began to prepare myself for an academic career. As a graduate assistant, I taught several laboratory courses over a 5-year period, intensifying my desire to become a teacher. However, at that time teaching positions were rare, but I never gave up my goal to teach geology at the university level.

I invested 12 years as a professional geologist with the State of Illinois and with Gulf Oil Corporation. By the early 1960' s prospects for an academic career began to brighten as universities expanded, and I decided to leave corporate America to realize my longtime desire to teach, even if it meant a significant reduction in salary.

Once I had made that decision, I began my search for a suitable position. I also developed a plan to become an effective and successful teacher. First, I would establish the Mentoring System that I learned at Gulf Oil Company under which students would be treated as junior associates and their person-to-person learning opportunities would come first. After all, the students would be my paying customers and should get their money's worth. I then reviewed the qualities of my former professors and teachers, making a list of their positive and negative attributes--their teaching techniques, knowledge of their subject and ability to stay up to date, respect for and treatment of students, concern for students' professional and personal lives, examination and grading philosophies, attitude about their profession, attitude in general (were they happy doing their job and proud of it? did they show up at class in the morning humming or whistling?), and numerous other qualities that made me respect and like them.

I then created two additional lists to teach and live by. The primary list was composed of all the positive elements of the professors' practices, and I selected the ones that I would adopt. The second was a list of teaching practices that I would not follow. I have those lists today, somewhat modified from the originals, and I refer to them from time to time to see if I'm still on the right road. I was fortunate to be recruited and hired by the University of Cincinnati where teaching was highly valued and a balance between research and teaching was expected. I took a 25% salary reduction to teach and have never regretted it.

Building upon my skills as geologist and teacher, my vision of the university's teaching mission, my industrial experience, and my true humane concern for our students, I have worked hard to become an excellent and dedicated teacher and mentor.

To prepare our students for their roles in society and their professional careers, I have developed and taught more than 20 different courses to meet the needs of the students and the changing demands of the profession. These include: 7 undergraduate courses, 6 undergraduate and graduate courses, and 9 graduate courses. They are as follows: Elementary Geology (ug); Elementary Petrology (ug); Sedimentology (ug); Stratigraphy (ug); Subsurface Geology (ug); Career Seminar (ug); Geology Field Course (ug & gr); Marine Geology Field Course (ug & gr); Ichnology (ug & gr); Petroleum Geology (ug & gr); Environmental Hydrogeology (ug & gr); Sequence Stratigraphy (ug & gr); Seismic Stratigraphy (gr); Career Seminar for Graduate Students (gr); Advanced Sedimentology (gr); Sedimentology Field Seminar (gr); Advanced Stratigraphy Seminar (gr); Sandstone Petrology (gr); Carbonate Petrology (gr); Shale Seminar (gr); The Corporate Game--and How to Play It Seminar (gr); Philosophy and History of Stratigraphy and Sedimentology (gr).

Many of these courses I created from scratch, anticipating rapidly changing developments in Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, Environmental Geology, and Petroleum Geology, the principal disciplines needed for successful careers in geology. My research program and my consulting projects for oil companies and environmental companies enable me to keep up to date with industry progress and innovations. I incorporate this new information into my courses to assure that the course content is current. I modify my courses yearly to keep up with rapidly changing vectors in my profession. I do not have, nor do I use old, yellowed class notes.

The Petroleum Geology and Environmental Hydrogeology courses have unique laboratory sessions. The students are divided into 4-person companies and a real-life problem is assigned to their companies. The problem-solving project continues for 10 weeks. In the case of the Petroleum Geology Laboratory, the students' goal is to find oil and gas at a profit within a prospect site; in the case of the Environmental Hydrogeology Laboratory, their goal is to locate and remediate pollution at an industrial hazardous waste site. In addition to this professional geological experience, the students learn to operate a company, achieve profits or losses, apply risk analysis, develop accounting skills, understand the cash flow problems associated with income-expenses-taxes, and practice within the capitalist system. The students acquire a professional experience and, above all, they develop self-confidence and the ability to work with a group of peers in a teamwork setting. With their self-confidence in their professional abilities, learned in these courses, many students are able to go directly into jobs and be successful with minimal additional training. As a result, our students are very well respected and are in demand by industry.

For 25 years or more, I taught at least 2 field courses a year during my vacation periods. I acquired substantial funds from industrial sources to subsidize the students' expenses; I often contributed personal funds for the same purpose. To challenge undergraduates, I frequently mixed graduate and undergraduates in classes (which also challenges the graduate students). I lowered some of my course numbers so that undergraduates can take some of the more advanced graduate classes for credit. I encourage the graduate students in these classes to mentor their junior colleagues, rather than compete with them. I never pit students against each other in class.

At the same time, I developed a number of successful research efforts and published about 2 papers per year, many of them in co-authorship with students. My reputation as a teacher and researcher attracted many excellent graduate students and garnered financial support from the international scientific community. My students and I acquired a number of professional awards for our work, illustrating that this was the mentoring system at its best. A proper balance between teaching and research has been maintained, and I have used research as powerful teaching vehicle. Research projects are devised to involve students at all levels of planning, writing research proposals, collecting and analyzing the data, writing the final reports and theses, presenting áthe results at scientific meetings, and publishing the results. Undergraduate and graduate students have been included in all of my research projects; I make sure that they have sufficient funds to undertake and complete their research. My colleagues and I in the Sedimentology Group established a Sedimentology Fund and solicited nearly $100,000 from industrial and alumni sources solely to support graduate student research. My wife and I personally made several contributions to the Sedimentology Fund through the McMicken Society.

As a result of these graduate teaching efforts I have produced more than '70 graduate degrees- 17 doctoral degrees and 57 Masters degrees -- an average of 2.5 degrees a year. In addition, I have served as the second advisor to more than 50 other doctoral and masters students.

In all my interactions with students I have always encouraged free discussions of their opinions, soliciting questions, developing their self-confidence, bringing forth their best qualities and helping them to develop into mature colleagues. Students have the right to be treated as individuals, each having individual capabilities, skills, and problems. As a teacher I address the whole person, guiding career development, listening to personal tragedies, helping each one to overcome adversity, advising them on their financial problems, and being their friend. My office door at the university and my home are always open to students in need of a sounding board. Serving as a professional and personal mentor, above and beyond class experiences, I guide students to become well-educated and polished professional geologists, successful scientists, scholars, and responsible citizens. That is the role I have fostered for myself, for my department, and for my university. I am very proud of the students that developed from my mentoring and whole-student teaching efforts. My former students, some of whom have been out for 20 years or more, keep in constant touch with me, frequently seeking professional, career, and personal guidance. They are my friends and professional peers.

My classes are designed to present a finite number of concepts and practices that can be well learned within the scheduled time limits. My ideal goal is to have every student in my classes thoroughly learn what I have to give. My courses are designed to make connections between concepts and ideas that students have learned in my courses and from other courses. My upper level courses emphasize both independent thinking and team work. In addition to the course content, I teach students to think deductively and inductively and to practice the scientific method. I expect and get high standards of performance from my students and do all that I can to see that they individually perform to their highest abilities. I try to bring out their best and am proud of the results.

Students are pleased with my courses and the ways in which I teach them. Most of the students believe that I grade them fairly and are happy with the grades they earn. The commentary by my former students attests to the excellent education and training they received under my tutelage and mentoring, which have helped them develop exciting and productive careers in geology. Students in my classes are animated and express themselves freely, knowing that I encourage and foster free expression, creative and incisive discussions, and critical review of major concepts. Oral presentations with peer review instill confidence, teach them to prepare thoughts thoroughly, and to practice public speaking. Thus, students have the opportunity to think creatively, perform spontaneously, and to develop self-confidence. The reviews of the presentations by the other students in the classes give the listeners the opportunity to develop constructive criticism skills and provide the speakers with the chance to learn from their peers. I teach them and encourage them to criticize authority, especially the written word.

As all good teachers know from experience, a genuine commitment to teaching is a multi-faceted effort that includes far more than presenting well-prepared classroom lectures. For my entire career at the University of Cincinnati, I have devoted myself to scholarship, teaching, and to mentoring. I have counseled students about their academic choices and their future professional directions, worked with contacts in academia and industry to actively help place students in challenging and rewarding careers, and have often guided students through the personal difficulties they sometimes face. In this context, I have recently established and funded the Pryor-Motl Fellowship, through The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, with the sole purpose of awarding tuition and other expenses to needy, hard-working, geology students. My wife and I hope to alleviate the financial strain on at least some undergraduate students who have had to work to pay for their education.

Teaching is a noble calling, passing ideas and professional practices to the coming generation. When the students are treated right, a mutual respect develops that gives the classroom and office an atmosphere of intellectual challenge, scholarship, easy learning, and friendliness. The students enjoy learning, and I have fun teaching! Associating with students and mentoring them through their academic and professional lives reward me with meaning, purpose, and a profound personal gratification.