A job well done

By Robert W. Dalton

The faculty and staff who retire this year have devoted more than 271 years of service to the college. They touched every area of the campus and worked each day to make the student experience exceptional. They have been honored for jobs well done, and each still holds a special place in the Wofford community.

STAFF RETIREES DURING THE 2021-22 ACADEMIC YEAR:

Dr. Charlie Bass

34 YEARS

Dr. Charlie Bass was doing postdoctoral research at the Cancer Research Institute at Arizona State University when he made an important discovery. He realized he’d rather be teaching.

“I fought it a little,” says Bass, the Dr. and Mrs. Larry H. McCalla Professor of Chemistry. “Postdoc is kind of a halfway house for a chemist. I wasn’t as fond of that. I should have known when I was at Tennessee (where he earned his Ph.D.) because I spent more time on the teaching assistantship than research. That should have been a clue, but it takes me a while.”

It turns out that Bass, who retired at the end of the semester after 34 years at Wofford, was good at teaching. So good, in fact, that, in the twilight of his career, a group of former students raised the money to have a new, state-of-the-art lab named in his honor. The lab was dedicated in May.

“I’m shocked that anybody wanted to put my name on it,” says Bass. “It’s going to make a tremendous difference to the department. Doing research requires having a dedicated space. It means the world to me to have it for the students here.”

Bass arrived at Wofford in 1988. His teaching style and sense of humor made him a favorite year after year.

“I was on such a high when I first started teaching here,” Bass says. “There were nights when I couldn’t go to bed because I had to write notes and figure out how to say things in class.”

Bass has been recognized locally and nationally over the course of his career. He received the Roger Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Science at Wofford in 2006, and he has been honored several times as the Faculty Member of the Year by the Panhellenic Council at Wofford and by Campus Union. He was included in The Princeton Review’s book “The Best 300 Professors” in 2012. In 2013, he was one of 10 faculty recognized nationally with a Kappa Alpha Theta Outstanding Faculty Award.

Bass says he’s looking forward to taking a break. He’s also ready to begin a new chapter.

“The biggest thing is I want to unwind first,” he says. “I tend to work really long hours, so I’m looking forward to slowing down a bit. I don’t want to stop. I’ll do something part-time, hopefully teaching.”

David Beacham

45 YEARS

David Beacham ’77 wasn’t planning on a career in higher education when he started working in Wofford’s Office of Admission in July 1977.

Law school was a possibility, or a career in the business world. Beacham definitely wasn’t going to be at Wofford more than a couple of years. But Beacham blinked, and 20 years passed. Then time really began to fly.

Beacham, senior vice president for administration and secretary to the board of trustees, retires this summer after 45 years.

“When you work at a college like Wofford, it becomes a way of life,” says Beacham. “It gets in your blood. I wasn’t dying to retire, I just feel like 45 years is long enough. It was never going to be easy to leave.”

Beacham’s career spanned three Wofford and eight U.S. presidents (10 if you throw in his time as a student). The campus that encompassed about 75 acres when he started now stretches over 180 acres.

Women were just becoming a part of the Wofford community when Beacham arrived at Wofford as a student. Now they outnumber the men. He’s seen the student body grow from about 1,000 students to nearly 1,800, and he’s watched Wofford’s stock climb in national rankings.

By his count, Beacham has seen the construction of 16 new buildings — starting with the Campus Life Building (now the Mungo Student Center) and concluding with the Chandler Environmental Studies Center. He saw Snyder Field replaced by Gibbs Stadium and Benjamin Johnson Arena give way to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium as Wofford moved from NAIA to NCAA Division I.

“The opportunities I’ve had to grow in my work and to be a part of the most dramatically transformative four decades possibly in the college’s history have been very rewarding,” says Beacham. “And the time has flown by.”

Between his first job in admission and his current role, Beacham has served in a variety of positions. He was the director of the Wofford Scholars program before moving to the Office of Advancement, where he was the head of annual giving, planned giving and major giving.

From 1986 to 1990, Beacham worked as a special assistant to President Emeritus Joe Lesesne. Lesesne later promoted him to vice president of development, a post he held until 2002. That’s when then-president Bernie Dunlap brought him back to the president’s office.

“Bernie said there was no way I could do what he needed me to do and remain the chief development officer,” says Beacham. “He convinced me to come back to the president’s office, and he created the title of vice president for administration.”

When Nayef Samhat arrived as the college’s 11th president in 2013, Beacham had been promoted to senior vice president. His breadth and depth of knowledge about anything and everything Wofford made him an invaluable asset.

“David Beacham has dedicated nearly half a century to Wofford College,” says Samhat. “The Wofford experience for students, colleagues, alumni and the greater Spartanburg community is better because of his fingerprints. He’s been a trusted advisor to presidents, including me, and a liaison to the board of trustees and the United Methodist Church. His encyclopedic memory has been invaluable. It’s almost unbelievable how he remembers every birth, wedding, name change or new job among the college’s alumni. He lives and breathes Wofford, and we hope he returns often with his sense of humor, contagious laugh and stories of retirement adventures.”

Beacham says all three presidents he worked with were great colleagues, mentors and friends. “All three have given me a great deal of responsibility and leeway and have trusted that my judgment was sound,” he says.

Beacham had opportunities to leave, and there was a point about halfway through his run where he came close. But the reasons to stay always outweighed the reasons to go.

“Staying where we were turned out to be the right thing,” he says.

Earlier this year, the David M. and Cynthia C. Beacham Endowed Internship Fund was established by John White ’72 to honor the Beachams. The fund will give students with financial need the resources to participate in career-enhancing and life-changing internship opportunities.

Beacham also was recognized at his final board of trustees meeting in early May when he received the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor, presented by Murrell Smith ’90, speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

The first thing Beacham plans to do in retirement is “hightail it to the beach,” only this time without worrying about having to rush back. He also plans to work on lowering his golf handicap and to get serious about reading.

Although he won’t be part of the day-to-day operations any longer, Beacham has promised his colleagues on the president’s cabinet that he won’t be far away.

“I’m going to do some fun stuff, stuff I haven’t had time to do in the past,” Beacham says, “but I’ll stay connected enough to answer questions when somebody calls.”

Dr. David Sykes

21 YEARS

When Dr. David Sykes was considering writing a book in 2001, he reached out to Dr. Angela Shiflet, professor emeritus of computer science, for some advice.

Sykes, Wofford’s McCalla Professor of Computer Science, was teaching at Furman University at the time — the third stop in his second career. After a lunch meeting with Shiflet, she announced that she had arranged for Sykes to meet with then-president Bernie Dunlap.

Because of a retirement, Wofford was hiring a computer science professor, and Shiflet wanted to recruit Sykes. It didn’t take long to convince him to make the move. He joined the Wofford faculty in September 2001.

“It was totally unexpected,” says Sykes, who retired at the end of the semester after 21 years at Wofford. “It’s really been a terrific experience.”

Sykes quickly became a fixture in the Wofford community. He enjoyed the campus and the customs. His favorite spot on campus is Leonard Auditorium.

“Being in there brings back lots of memories, including convocations and the Christmas programs we used to bring our kids to,” Sykes says. “I’m a fan of traditions.”

One of those children, Aaron Sykes ’19, majored in computer science at Wofford. Being able to teach his son was one of Sykes’ career highlights. It did, however, cause some confusion.

“We would frequently get each other’s emails,” Sykes says with a laugh.

Before deciding he wanted to teach, Sykes worked as a software engineer for 13 years. His first job after college was with NCR Corp. (previously National Cash Register) in San Diego. After moving to SofTech Inc. a year and a half later, he got to conduct training courses for several clients, including the U.S. Air Force and Bell Laboratories.

But Sykes wanted a change and returned to college. After earning his Ph.D. from Clemson University, he began his teaching career at Middle Tennessee State University. He also taught at Winthrop University before coming to the Upstate.

Sykes says the reality of retirement began to sink in during spring break. For the first time, he stayed home and took it easy for the week.

“I realized then it was going to be really different,” Sykes says, “but I suspect I’ll get used to it.”

Sykes says he was initially drawn to Wofford by the faculty. He says he’ll miss the daily interactions with his colleagues.

“Everybody gets along so well,” he says. “I loved sitting in the faculty dining room with them and getting to know them.”

Sykes plans to take up woodworking and to work on some projects around his house. He also wants to travel. To keep his mind sharp, he’ll continue writing code.

“Writing code is as good as doing crossword puzzles,” he says.

Andrew Green

15 YEARS

Andrew Green is looking forward to the next phase of his career. He’s just not sure what it will be.

“I have some ideas of what that might involve,” says Green, associate professor of finance, who retired at the end of the semester after 15 years at Wofford. “I’m very interested in the community. I have been very fortunate. I want to do something that revolves around trying to give back at this stage.”

Teaching was phase two for Green, and one he enjoyed very much.

“I started part-time at Wofford and found out I loved it,” he says. “Fortunately, I guess I was good enough at it that they liked me. The following year (2007) they were hiring a fulltime finance professor, and, ultimately, I got that position.”

Green developed several courses during his time at Wofford, including a “Cases in Finance” seminar for seniors that he started early on and continued through his final semester.

“I tried to make the world of business and finance real to my students. I am constantly teaching with examples from the business world and really from my own experience,” Green says.

His experience in the business world spanned 25 years — 15 in financial roles at Ryder Truck Rental and 10 more at Denny’s Restaurants, including as CFO. He often illustrates his lessons with examples from his time at Denny’s and takes classes on trips to the company’s Spartanburg headquarters.

When he left Denny’s in 2005, he figured he’d find a new position as a CFO and relocate, but he didn’t want to uproot his daughter, who was a sophomore in high school. He says Dr. Eddie Richardson, professor of business, convinced him to give Wofford a try.

Green says he’ll miss the relationships with the students and his colleagues.

“The great thing about being here is teaching and mentoring and advising students,” says Green. “You feel like you’re really contributing to someone’s path.”

His immediate plans include a monthlong trip to Europe, biking across Spain for a week and then spending three weeks in France. In January, he’ll lead an Interim trip to South Africa with Lillian Gonzalez ’91, professor of accounting. In between, he’ll work on his golf game and recharge.

“I’ll probably slow down a little bit,” Green says. “But I feel like I have another run in me. I just don’t know what it will be.”