by John Michael O'Leary
Accidental Evansvillian
Dr. Ernest Nolan wasn’t supposed to go to college.
“My dad worked in a factory, and we lived on a little farm where I milked cows. I never thought about going to college—nobody in my family ever had—I just assumed I would work in a trade.”
But SAT scores showed he was destined for higher education.
“I had intended to apply for college at Jeffersonville because it was close to my home,” says Nolan, Assistant Professor Emeritus of Computer Information Systems. “When I asked for the application, they misunderstood and gave me an application for Evansville. I was so bashful that I did not say anything. No one who knows me now can believe I was ever bashful—I always told my students I would feel comfortable delivering a speech to 10,000 people. The point is, we all mature and change.”
Nolan would go on to graduate from University of Evansville with a degree in math and computing science and subsequently earn a master’s degree in business administration. He took a position with his alma mater as supervisor of operations before going to Chayes Virginia, a Johnson & Johnson company, and rising to CIO. He began teaching full-time at USI (then ISUE) in 1983 with the understanding that he could continue to provide private consulting in addition to his teaching duties.
“I had taught some summer classes at ISUE a few years earlier, over my lunch hour,” says Nolan. “I joined the faculty the same year as Bill Henderson (Assistant Professor Emeritus of Computer Information Systems). We started the CIS degree program.”
Nolan approached teaching with a healthy respect for skepticism, which he encouraged his students to cultivate as well. “I never read a textbook I agree with 100%—I could always find differences based on my experience. I think my experience kept students interested, because they could see how concepts apply in real life.”
Those students may well recall Nolan’s weekly attention-getters, a “thought for the week,” ”quote of the week” or a photo of the “tractor of the week.” “Every student knows I love and collect antique tractors.” Retirement affords him plenty of time to tinker with his machines—and to maintain his pastoral homestead on 14 acres. “I enjoy cutting the grass; it takes all summer.”
“For about 25 years I taught both a freshman and a senior class,” says Nolan. “Seeing how their thinking matured is what I enjoyed the most ... I wouldn’t trade my teaching experience for anything.”
Although Nolan’s time in the classroom has ended, his penchant for programming has not. “I still write some code now and then. But I’m ready to get this COVID-19 thing over and do some traveling.”
Retirement gives Ernie Nolan, Assistant Professor Emeritus of Computer Information Systems, plenty of time to tend 14 acres and tinker with his 23 antique tractors, including this 1936 Farmall Model F-12. Behind him (left) is a 1953 Ford Model Jubilee and a 1949 John Deere Model A.
Mother, Teacher, Nurturer
Dr. Jennifer Williams describes her time with USI this way:
“Wow! I can’t believe what I watched happen—and how fast it all flew by. I loved my work, my students and the people I worked with. USI became my family and I was there during the most exciting times.”
Williams, Professor Emerita of Computer Information Systems, joined the faculty in January 1993 after serving as a temporary instructor in management the previous semester. Teaching was a second career, begun in her thirties after raising three children. The calling sent her back to school as a commuter student.
“I drove 120 miles one-way from my home (in Webster County, Kentucky) to Western Kentucky University,” says Williams. “For my doctorate, I commuted to and from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.” At one point, she was living in Webster County, studying at Carbondale and teaching in Evansville. “I used to carry a tape recorder with me to make notes while driving,” she recalls. “It wasn’t unusual for me to get home at midnight.”
Her high-mileage resume made her a logical choice when the school needed to send a representative to Indianapolis for a governor’s conference on distance education in 1993. When distance education morphed into online learning, Williams was at the helm of USI’s first online MBA class. “We were the fastest-growing school in the state for years, and we faced problems of how to make room for all the people.”
Williams saw her role as educator inseparable from that of nurturer. “Every time I looked in my students’ faces, I saw my own kids,” says Williams. “Many were the first generations in their families to go to college. It was my job to do whatever I could to help them have a bright future.”
Sometimes she dug into her own purse to buy a textbook, or she loaded a sick kid into her car and drove them to the ER. “I have gifts from the mothers of some of my international students; they told me I was their kid’s mama when they couldn’t be.”
She says her teaching philosophy reflects the love she experienced being raised in a faith-filled home—and from the conviction that all things are redeemable.
“My greatest strength is probably my greatest weakness, but I was always ready to give someone another chance. When I caught a student cheating, my thought wasn’t about punishment, but about how to teach them what they did was wrong and why they shouldn’t do it again.”
Williams admits she didn’t want to leave teaching, but it was taking a physical toll. “I do have some issues with my back, but it is markedly better now than it has been in 20 years.” And she is glad to again be the resident, full time nurturer in her family, looking after her mother and keeping all well during the pandemic.
“I believe in the power of education to changes lives and to change the world. I also believe strongly in the power of love. I am so happy to have been a part of teaching my students to ‘love to learn,’ and I hope they saw in me the happiness that comes from loving one another.”
Jennifer Williams, Professor Emerita of Computer Information Systems, shares a moment of levity with her computer information systems CIS 201 students in December 2019, following the last lecture of her teaching career.