PSU Magazine Spring 1989

The pro with human touch a By Cynthia D. Stowell Retiring after 37 years at the University, Professor Charlie White leaves a legacy as a funny, caring, thought– provoking teacher and administrator. ( PSU 14 This caricature of Professor Charlie White decorates the "Charlie Award" presented each year by the ~stern Association of Summer Ses– sion Administrators for the best summer catalog. W alk into the PSU summer session office and you'll form an immediate impression of Charlie White. The staff is upbeat , hard– working and slightly wacky - just like their boss . Talk to some of the thousands of students who have passed through Pro– fessor White's classroom and you 'll hear homages to a provocative and caring teacher who also holds great barbecues. Look at Charles M. White's vita and you 'll begin to understand the depth of this man's contributions to Portland State during the last 37 years. As director of summer session , head of international programs, professor of history, and academic advisor, White has made an in– delible mark on the life of the university. " Never in my whole academic career have I known anyone as devoted to an in– stitution as Charlie White is to Portland State University," said history colleague and 25- year poker associate Whitney Bates. In October, PSU will be without Charlie for the first time in its history as the veteran teacher and administrator moves from phased retirement into full retirement. And where will White be? "One of my chief aims is to get associated with a landscape gardener and work in the dirt," said White of his retirement plans. "Or maybe I could have ten or twelve lawns to take care of regularly." Planting flowers and mowing lawns is not that far afield for someone who has spent nearly four decades nurturing students. For scores of alumni , Portland State is personified by the stocky figure of Professor White, his bald head catch– ing the fluorescent lights of the classroom, his wide blue eyes disconcert– ingly direct.