Recalling 40 years of working at WSU

Ball	Barnes	Dengerink	Dillman	Gough

Jorgensen	Kallaher	Thistle	Wang	Webb

Election-dilemma insight
“I was educated in a land-grant university,” said Don Dillman, Regents professor and deputy director of the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, “and it has always been important to me to apply my published research to helping people and organizations solve practical problems.”

In fact, he might have helped Florida escape its ballot debacle in the 2000 presidential election … if only they’d called him earlier.

“A specific event I’ll not forget is the day after the election when a news reporter faxed me a copy of the butterfly ballot and asked if there was something wrong with it,” Dillman recalled.

“It took one look for me to realize that the concepts of visual design theory for questionnaire construction that I had developed in the 1990s could explain why so many people made mistakes marking their ballot.”

Supportive atmosphere
Rewarding work also attracted Michael Kallaher, professor of mathematics, who moved to WSU to work with former professor Ted Ostrom.

“This became a fruitful collaboration lasting more than 25 years,” he said, recalling the math department as providing a supportive atmosphere for research and interaction with students.

And Pullman was supportive in other ways.

“It is an excellent place to raise a family,” Kallaher said, citing quality schools, medical care and academic and athletic activities for children and adults.

“I love living in the Northwest,” agreed Ball.

“Working in information technology provided me with frequent opportunities to take jobs elsewhere,” he said. “Every time I’d evaluate the life I enjoyed at WSU when compared to other places and employers I might have chosen, I have always decided that I really liked it better here.”

International rafting
Appreciation of the local area is among the fondest memories of 40-year employee William Webb, professor and associate chair of mathematics.

“Cal Long (a former math professor) and I were hosting an international conference and were anxious to show off the Palouse to our colleagues from around the world,” he recalled. Between meetings, they worked in a hike to Elk Creek Falls, barbecue at Kamiak Butte and Salmon River raft trip.

“We filled up four big rafts and every raft ended up with no two people from the same country,” Webb said.

“My colleagues still tell me how much they enjoyed their visit,” he said.

Ground floor
Kathy Thistle, administrative assistant 4 in the College of Nursing, said she enjoyed being part of a respected university and quality program.

“In 1969 I had the pleasure of being on the ground floor of a new and challenging nursing program,” she said. “For awhile we doubled our enrollment each year.

“I was able to work in many different departments. I have always loved the diversity of my job.”

Diversity vision
Diversity in a larger sense kept Dallas Barnes, associate director for Student Services at WSU Tri-Cities, attached to WSU.

“A commitment to the vision of equal educational and employment opportunities” of WSU administrators in the 1970s and 1980s, and their “tireless advocacy for social justice and inclusion of those from nontraditional backgrounds into all levels of university life” were commended by Barnes.

“My most cherished and vivid memory is of the 1994 week-long campus and Pullman community protest on my and other minorities’ behalf concerning our employment and the educational opportunities for minority students,” he recalled.

“WSU continues to model its commitment to diversity and educational excellence with vigilance,” Barnes added. “Thus, it remains a magnet to those who share these commitments.”

A magnet strong enough – for all sorts of reasons – to retain employees for 40 years … and counting.