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OT: Favorite Professor at TCU

Lone Frog

Active Member
Dr. Harry Opperman. Took our classes over to the Pub a few times so we could drink and smoke while we talked about writing. I remember him many times leaving the faculty lounge with his pipe still lit - he'd carry it in his pants pocket and have a little trail of smoke seeping out of his pocket and following him down the hall. Best teacher I ever had, bar none. I honored him the best way I knew how and made him one of the dedications in my first novel.

Dr. Keith Odom. Great teacher who knew his stuff, backwards and forwards.

Dr. Anantha Babbili. Brilliant man and an amazing professor. We drank a lot of beer together in England.

Teachers I hated:

Paul LaRocque. Blithering idiot whose short-sleeve dress shirts carried so many pit stains we used to joke you could count the rings to tell the age of the shirt.
 

SwissArmyFrog

Active Member
You're welcome! I was in that 'Yeomen' production with him and one of the songs was a quintet he and I were in, and it was *great* to hear him up close like that. There's a song that Bernardez's character sings - it was cut from the original London production shortly after opening night, and is almost never used. But if you have a special singer, they put it back in. Constantino was a special singer, so they put it in for him. Naturally, he sang it great!

Didn't know (or recall) that he'd had to flee his country. Thanks for the info!

Constantino Bernardez taught pronounciation and diction in the RTvF Department. He was, at one time, a part of the Philippine National Opera, but was forced to flee due to Ferdinand Marcos. Beautiful voice. Spoke with a wonderful cadence and a sense of careful deliberation. I only heard him sing once, during a funeral for a fellow student (who was a good guy) in R.C.C. Powerful Bass voice...

The remembrance was a pleasant jolt. Thanks!
 

Frogs01

Active Member
Did anyone have I think his name was Woodsworth for history in late 90's? I took both American History from him and I liked them so much I took Civil War History my sophomore year. His class every time was just great story telling (almost forgot to takes notes it was so interesting) and he would start up every class where he left off the last class.
 

Chico Dusty

Active Member
Pretty sure my bowling teacher was a lady. Definitely my favorite class at Tcu. Only class you could smoke during though we had to wait until after class in our free bowling to drink; apparently a class the year before us ruined that.

And that legend.... the great Mickie Archer. What a privilege to learn and study under her tutelage.
 

Limp Lizard

Full Member
Forgot one very interesting prof. Dr. Willis Hewatt. Taught comparative anatomy and was head of the committee for pre-med/dental. Very feared, since you had to be on his good side to do well in comparative anatomy and get a good recommendation from the committee. One pre-med friend of mine got at C in CA because he had a solid B and Hewatt thought he should be an "A" student. Today the student would probably run to the family lawyer. Used to talk about how Jim Swink would come in the lab on the Saturday morning before a game and work on his cat until time to report. Apparently before Reinecke took over as being the organic chemistry maestro, there was a Dr. Hogan: pre-med students described to Sophomore gauntlet of organic chemistry and comparative anatomy as "Hogan, Hewatt and Hell"

One of his proudest moments is when a friend of his discovered a truly disgusting South American bug and named it after him.
 

TCU2002

Active Member
Political Science was an incredibly strong department in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I am sure it still is, but there was a core group at the height of their powers during that time.

Dr. Ralph Carter - one of the most decorated professors at TCU
Dr. Dorraj - the epotime of a learned professor
Dr. Charles Lockhart - the sine qua non eccentric political theory specialist that every Poli Sci department needs
Dr. Michael Dodson - a great Latin America specialst who I believe has passed away

This list doesn't even include lions of the department like James Riddlesperger and Donald Jackson, who I somehow managed not to have for any courses.

Other favorites included Doug Ingram (Physics/Astronomy), John T. Harvey (Economics), Claire Sanders (History), and Peggy Watson (Spanish)
 

SwissArmyFrog

Active Member
I knew a couple of students in 1982 that took Greek World History. It was a notoriously tough class and required a great deal of time and study to do well in it.

I remember all those details, but don't recall the name of the prof. Anyone know, or have a guess?
 

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
Dr. Harry Opperman. Took our classes over to the Pub a few times so we could drink and smoke while we talked about writing. I remember him many times leaving the faculty lounge with his pipe still lit - he'd carry it in his pants pocket and have a little trail of smoke seeping out of his pocket and following him down the hall. Best teacher I ever had, bar none. I honored him the best way I knew how and made him one of the dedications in my first novel.

Dr. Keith Odom. Great teacher who knew his stuff, backwards and forwards.

Dr. Anantha Babbili. Brilliant man and an amazing professor. We drank a lot of beer together in England.

Teachers I hated:

Paul LaRocque. Blithering idiot whose short-sleeve dress shirts carried so many pit stains we used to joke you could count the rings to tell the age of the shirt.
Dr. Odom taught a course in Fantasy Lit, if memory serves. I very much enjoyed that class! His son played baseball at TCU during those years, wearing #5.

Watching Dr. Opperman sit and fiddle with his pipe, then light it and "dragon" the smoke out his nose. Damned handy prop, that!
 

dawg

Active Member
I knew a couple of students in 1982 that took Greek World History. It was a notoriously tough class and required a great deal of time and study to do well in it.

I remember all those details, but don't recall the name of the prof. Anyone know, or have a guess?

Was it James Chambers? I took History of the Greek World in 2000, and IIRC the prof was Chambers. Very nice guy. You had to do the readings and attend class, and papers had to be well-written, but I enjoyed the class.
 

SwissArmyFrog

Active Member
Name doesn't ring a bell, but its been since 1982. Do you know if Chambers was at TCU then, by chance? I'll see if I can find out, online.

I started dating a girl who took it at the beginning of the semester, and when the class started rolling she pretty much ended 95% of interaction until the semester was over, haha.

She wasn't my only source re: the class's reputation, though.

***Found that Chambers has been at TCU since '73, so it may very well have been him!

Was it James Chambers? I took History of the Greek World in 2000, and IIRC the prof was Chambers. Very nice guy. You had to do the readings and attend class, and papers had to be well-written, but I enjoyed the class.
 
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ShadowFrog

Moderators
A tie for me

Dr. Spencer Tucker, toughest/smartest History teacher

Dr. Ronald Flowers, toughest/smartest Religion teacher

I almost failed both their classes then dug deep & re-registered for more. Learned a LOT about History & Religion I never knew (terrible thing for a PK to admit).
 

ShadowFrog

Moderators
Prof Jim Jacobsen. was my role model and mentor. Took Bohon for History of WWII and it was outstanding. I was taking another of his courses in grad school and got the deployment notice for Desert Storm during one of the classes. Had to tell him I was dropping out due to my commitment, and he became almost emotional. He was a very good man. I remember Flowers' class as the one where half the football team was enrolled and showed up for the midterm and the final. They all made better grades than I did.
Yes, Prof was the best but since I was never musically talented I did not list him as my top teacher. STILL, huge respect for him. When I heard he passed I got up & walked into my Commanders office & politely but firmly “asked” to take 1 day of unscheduled leave which he approved. I think 2 days later I drove up from San Antonio to attend his service at a UCC in my dress blues.
 

PurplFrawg

Administrator
Yes, Prof was the best but since I was never musically talented I did not list him as my top teacher. STILL, huge respect for him. When I heard he passed I got up & walked into my Commanders office & politely but firmly “asked” to take 1 day of unscheduled leave which he approved. I think 2 days later I drove up from San Antonio to attend his service at a UCC in my dress blues.
I was teaching at TCU at the time, and made sure that my schedule was clear to walk over for his service as well.
 

Rabidfrog

Active Member
DR. Gus Ferre: philosophy
Dr. Paul Wassenich: religion
DR. Ben Proctor: history

My big three. Ferre and Proctor gave essay exams. Tough, but fair. Owe a lot to them and more.
 

wes

KIllerfrog Emeritus
Did anyone have I think his name was Woodsworth for history in late 90's? I took both American History from him and I liked them so much I took Civil War History my sophomore year. His class every time was just great story telling (almost forgot to takes notes it was so interesting) and he would start up every class where he left off the last class.
Woodworth
 

wes

KIllerfrog Emeritus
I’m convinced that Drs Minter and Reinecke were the toughest professors at TCU... but I’m also convinced that they are a big reason I was successful in getting into medical school.

Worst was Patty Knowles. I think she was a part timer who didn’t last long. She cheated me out of an A in her class because she could not do the math. She got mad when I showed her the correct calculation and doubled down to make sure I didn’t get the A after that. She was a real piece of work. Getting into medical school required a high gpa and I was pretty pissed off about it.
Agree about dr reinecke. If you got a good grade in his organic chemistry class, you sure as hell earned I

For me it’s Art Ehlman in Geology
 
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