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Science Prof Frank Quick to Retire
by Nicole Robinson & Mee Vang
A Quick mind
And ever Quick on his feet
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Frank Quick is a professor of biology and the department chair for the Natural Sciences Department at Mars Hill College. In May, he will retire after 35 years of service to the Mars Hill College community.
In the early 1970s, Quick was working as a research scientist, not planning on a teaching career, and Mars Hill College was looking for a natural sciences professor and a department chair. Quick came here in 1971; he had only planned to stay here for three years. But he fell in love with the "location and the liberal arts program."
He teaches Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Terminology, Histology, and Introduction to Biological Sciences. He enjoys all the classes he teaches, but Anatomy and Physiology is his favorite. His favorite concentration is the biological sciences.
Some of Quick's best memories of Mars Hill are of his interactions with students during numerous Spring Break science department trips to different biological locations. Destinations included the Everglades, Big Bend National Park in Texas, and many places in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, and throughout the Smoky Mountains.
Quick says that his biggest achievement at Mars Hill was helping young people reach their goals. A 1974 Mars Hill graduate wrote recently, "You have been my hero for 24 years. You were the only teacher I looked forward to teaching class."
Quick considers himself an "adequate administrator, a rewarded teacher, and a colleague and friend to faculty and students."
One quote that he lives by is: "If a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk mean?" This philosophical question hangs in his office.
"You can teach an old dog new tricks,"he says, and admits that he learned tolerance from his students.
Quick has noticed drastic changes in the method of instruction over the last 30 years. He says that students have a much shorter attention span than they used to, but it is because of the time they are living in. "I will not teach two-hour courses," said Quick, "because I can't keep students' attention that long. Students' mode of learning has changed."
Over the first few years of Quick's career at Mars Hill, he noticed the "most obvious change was going from a junior college to a senior college." But he said some things remained consistent. "The liberal arts emphasis has been maintained."
He also said that classes were never canceled, because everybody lived in Mars Hill. "Everybody was involved in the community. The students, faculty, and community were one in the 1970s."
He believes that the intention of education has also changed. In his earlier years, students came to college because they wanted a job. He said, "College is about increasing your intellectual ability to communicate with other people." He thinks many of today's generation of students believe they deserve a degree because they paid tuition and went (to school) for four years. "Minimal output doesn't guarantee success," Quick warns.
Besides his lectures, he enjoys his lab classes, which require critical thinking. They are the "unique learning opportunity." His favorite labs are those in which material is learned. He finds the most joy when students gain knowledge from experiments. Quick said, "The advantage of labs is that they give students and instructors a longer extended time to interact."
His favorite person to study in science would be Charles Darwin. "He started the development of the major paradigm of the biological sciences."
Quick plans to travel during his retirement. He wants to go to biologically important areas, as well as Australia and the Western United States. "I'll do things I've never done before." He does plan to keep his hands in education. That could vary from teaching kindergarten to teaching high school students to study. He does plan to take people up on their "come see me sometime" offers. If a student or a friend made the offer, then Quick will do that once he is retired. He joked about showing up at various students' front doors unexpectedly.
His advice for the person who takes his position next year: "Whoever takes this position will join a wonderful existing faculty. Take advantage of your collagues. Mars Hill is small enough so you know everybody."
Quick says to be a good teacher is to be "part entertainer, part authority, and part tough."
He describes himself as an open book. He sums up his life with this philosophy:
"Travel light in life. Take only what you need: a loving family, good friends, simple pleasures, someone to love, someone to love you, enough to eat, enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing." He believes that he has lived up to this saying.
Outside the confiding environment of Mars Hill College, Quick loves "good music, good wine, and good times." He defines good music as all music, good wine as white and red, and good times as participating in anything.
Quick came from Kentucky. He got his Bachelor's degree in biology in 1962 from the University of Louisville. He also got his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Louisville. He will still live in the Mars Hill area, even after he retires.
Quick enjoys hiking, cooking, playing pool, and drinking Jim Beam. During his retirement, he plans to garden more than he could while he was a professor. He grew up on a farm, so that is what gave him the interest in gardening and in science.
Currently, Frank Quick lives in the Mars Hill community with his wife, Betty Nokes. He has one daughter, who graduated from Mars Hill in 1993; she lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Quick's last words to faculty, staff, and students: "It's been fun!"
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