This guy knows a lot about rocks and meteorology. You can find him wheeling around a cart full of rocks and he almost always has a rock hammer with him. He has spent quite a bit of time in caves. In fact, he even met his wife in a cave in 1973.
He is associate professor of biology, Lee Evinger. He is a physical geologist.
At 61 years of age with 29 of those spent teaching at Western, he has decided to retire beginning Aug. 1.
Evinger has been teaching at Missouri Western since 1979. When he first came here, he described Western as big and called it a model campus. He remembers the days of using a mimeograph to process papers and frowns when describing the alcohol fumes from using this machine. He is thankful for the invention of computers, which have made his job easier. He pulls an old slide projector from under his desk and explains its use compared to Power Point.
Evinger teaches several courses in geology, meteorology and physical science.
“He definitely knows geology inside and out,” Curtis Gammill said. Gammill is a senior here at Western and took Geology 101 with Evinger.
Evinger was excited last spring when Western conducted the Galileo workshop on scientific issues with an emphasis on global warming. Attending this workshop were NASA scientists and researchers from Harvard and Evinger was asked to open the workshop with an introductory presentation.
His real excitement comes from the students and faculty whom he calls friends.
“I will miss my day-to-day interaction with my friends here,” Evinger said.
Dustee Baker is a senior here at Western and took Geology 101 with Evinger back when she was a sophomore, and she remembers him as being very personable.
“He truly cares about his students academically and personally,” Baker said.
He will continue many of his friendships he has established here on the golf course and at church.
Evinger is chairman of the board at King Hill Christian Church in the South End of St. Joseph. Among the members of this church is Western’s director of developmental math, R.E. Moore, who is friends with Evinger. Both of them try to meet at least once a week for dinner where they discuss church and swap ideas on how to help students with certain issues.
Moore describes Evinger’s performance at Western from a student’s viewpoint. “I’ve never been in his class, but students have told me that he presents material in several different ways to fit everyone’s learning style.
Evinger said he still remembers the names of his former students when he bumps into them at Wal-Mart and other places around town.
Evinger wants to see Western grow more in quality than in numbers. He wants Western to stay at a size that still allows for a personal atmosphere.
His concern is that this school will continue to grow in a way that will lose the one-on-one contact that it currently provides students.
Evinger feels strongly about Western and explains how it can be overlooked for what it truly is.
“It is easy for students, faculty and administrators to not appreciate how good of an institution Western is and what opportunities it provides,” Evinger said.
Evinger was teaching geology courses at Elizabethtown College in Pa., before coming to Western.
Currently applications are still being taken to fill his position.
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