Cumberland Today-Summer 02 - University of the Cumberlands

Dr. Joe Early Retires33 Years of Dedicated ServiceFor Joe Early, spending the past 21 years a vice-president of academicaffairs at Cumberland College hasn’t been a chore. “I cannoteven think about having a better position. I don’t even call it a job.I call it an opportunity. It has never been like work,” Early noted.“When you are around young people all of the time, everybody is alwaysexcited. They have plans, and you get to see them. As long as you don’t lookin the mirror. You think you are their age. It’s been a wonderful life.”Early, who turned 62 years old in January, is retiring after nearly a thirdof a century at Cumberland College. While his retirement officially takeseffect August 31, 2002, Early began a leaveof absence starting on New Year’s Day. “Iwill have been here 33 years when I amfully retired. I’ve have been very fortunate,”he said.Dr. James Taylor, President ofCumberland College, said Early will certainlybe missed. “Dr. Early has done a remarkablejob in serving as vice-president of academicaffairs all these years. He has developeda solid base on which the college canmove to the next level,” Taylor said. “We arevery deeply indebted to his contributions.He has served as a role model and Christianman. I respect what he has done. We aregrateful.”When asked about what he might missthe most during his retirement, Early replied,“I can tell you what I won’t miss. Iwon’t miss the paper shuffling,” Early saidhe will miss the people, and all the littlethings. “The thing about CumberlandCollege is the people here are extraordinary,”he said. “I will miss all the relationshipswith the faculty and staff, and theconversations, and all kinds of exchangeswe have had over the years. When you arein an intellectual community all the time,you are always discussing things other thanweather. That kind of intellectual stimulationis something that I will probably miss the most.”Early said that so far, he and his wife, Phyllis, have no set plans for retirement,but he would like to play a little more golf. “We are just going to tryand let it come to us. I am looking forward to another phase in my life, that’sthe way I am looking at it. I am not actually retiring. I am just going to dosomething else,” Early said.Early said that he would like to spend a little more time working with hischurch, and visiting with his son, Joe, and his daughter-in-law, Dana. Heplans on staying in Williamsburg, where his mother still lives. Early said thatsome travel is also on the agenda for he and his wife. “We have not been toMaine and New Hampshire and that area,” he said.Early said that he would like to take about a full year off, and then he willDr. Joe Earlyprobably resume some type of work, possibly as a part-time math teacher at thecollege. “If I do anything that has a structure to it in my retirement that I cananticipate right now, I would be very happy teaching calculus or differentialequations or something like that. It’s simply because I like to be with youngpeople, and I like to see them accept a challenge and be successful. It keeps youyoung.” Taylor said he looks forward to Early coming back and teaching theoccasional math class and whatever else he may do to assist the college.Early is originally from Williamsburg and attended WilliamsburgHigh School.His mother was an elementary schoolsupervisor who came to CumberlandCollege while he was a student there. As amatter of fact, Early’s mother taught hiswife, Phyllis, while she was a student atCumberland. “I went down one day to seemy mother about something. While I wasthere, I also asked her about that girl in thefront row,” Early admits.Early graduated from CumberlandCollege twice, once in 1959 when it was ajunior college, and then again in 1963when it was a senior college. He graduatedwith a BS degree in mathematics andphysics. “I am kind of a campus rat, but Inever really thought about coming back,”he admits. Following college, Joe andPhyllis moved to Mt. Sterling, KY wherehe taught everything from sixth grademath to junior high and high school math.“My love is mathematics. I always felt thatI was a fairly effective teacher,” he said.After a few years Early’s desire to keeplearning more got the best of him, and hehad an opportunity to go to graduateschool at the University of Tennessee.After finishing up his doctorate inmathematics and education, Early hadtentatively accepted a position at theUniversity of Georgia, but that changedwith a visit from his mentor, Dr. J.T. Valandingham.Valandingham was a math professor at Cumberland College, who taughtat the school for 61 years. “He wanted me to come back. He told me if I wouldcome back, he would let me become chair of the department, and he wouldwork for me,” Early said. “I really felt obligated to the college because the collegehad been so good to me. I was particularly honored to have the opportunityto work with Dr. Val.” In 1969, Early and his wife agreed to come backfor four years. About a year and a half later, their son, Joe, was born. “This wasa great place to raise a child. We were active in the church. We never reallymade any serious plans about leaving any time after that,” Early noted.Continued on page 72