John F. Van Domelen
After a year at Charmin, facing a promotion into senior management, I entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall of 1970. I received a Federal Water Quality Administration Traineeship to pursue a MS in Water Resource Management and with the GI bill and consulting work we were able to live very comfortably. I completed my Masters in June 1972 and immediately began work on a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I consulted, taught and conducted research in the use of remote sensing techniques, especially satellite and photographic imagery. I received a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engrg. in June 1974. I began my academic career at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, as an Assist Prof of Civil Engrg in July 1974. Norwich is the Nations oldest private Military College. Go Patriots! In 1976 I was commissioned (again!) as a Captain in the Vermont Air National Guard and was assigned to Vermont’s 158th Defense System Evaluation Group as Officer-in-Charge of their Intelligence Unit. Our son was born in 1973 and in 1978 I began teaching him how to play golf so I would have an excuse to travel to exotic golf courses while still being able to claim that I was spending quality time with him. I was appointed Head of the Department of Engineering & Technology at Norwich University in 1979 and promoted to Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and tenured. In 1981 I was promoted to Major in the Vermont ANG and assigned as Chief of Intelligence in the 158th Tactical Fighter Group. In 1983 I was appointed Head of the Division of Engrg & Tech when Norwich Univ consolidated its 20 plus academic departments into nine academic divisions an in Aug of 1985 I was appointed Acting VP for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty when the VP was canned. After a most interesting year and a national search I was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty in July 1986. My active association with the VT Air Guard continued, and in 1986 I was awarded the Armed Forces Reserve Medal for 10 years of exceptional service and the AF Commendation Medal for outstanding leadership and was promoted to Lt. Col. and reassigned to State Headquarters where I served on the Air Staff. In June 1989 I was named an Outstanding Graduate of the USAF Air War College Associates Program and was selected for promotion to Colonel. Upon recommendation of the President of the United States and confirmation by the Senate I was promoted to Colonel in March 1990. The best part of the promotion was that I got to wear my Dad’s old eagles. In August 1992 I was awarded the AF Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service. In 1993 I retired from active service with the VT Air Guard and in 1998 from the USAFR after 30 years of involvement, as their need for old graying Colonels was waning. On 1 July 1990, after 16 years at Norwich, I became the President of Wentworth Institute of Technology. Wentworth was founded in 1904 in Boston, Massachusetts and located on Huntington Avenue across from the Museum of Fine Arts. I am very proud of what I and my staff accomplished during the 15 years I was President of the Institute. He and his staff have been credited with the transformation of the school. From 1990 to 2005 Wentworth was transformed from a commuting college of 1800 students (600 lived on campus) to one of the most heavily residential colleges in Boston with 2000 of the 3200 students living on campus. Enrollment grew from 1800 students to 3200, the percentage of women increased from 8% to 21%, the SATs increased from 850 in 1990 to 1100 in 2005 and the percentage of out-of-state students grew from less than 20% to 48%. The Institute added nationally accredited programs in Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, Interior Design, and Management of Technology to its already nationally accredited programs in Engineering Technology. The endowment was increased from $19 million to $95 million in the 15 years while the Institute spent an additional $150 million dollars upgrading every laboratory, classroom, office and residence hall. At the same time the $5 million operating debt was retired and in 2005 the Institute had over $20 million dollars in a reserve fund outside of the endowment. Two new residential halls were constructed adding almost 1000 beds to the campus everyone of which were filled. Despite these enormous improvements the tuition, room and board (the school has no fees) remained the 4th least expensive of all private college in Massachusetts. At the same time that the physical resources were improved the quality of the faculty changed also. In 1990 one-third of the faculty did not have terminal credentials in their field (MS or Ph.D. and work experience), by 2005 every single faculty member possessed the appropriate credential. During the 15 years the size of the faculty increased from almost 100 to 130 yet the total number of employees at the Institute remained static at 350. Despite the transformation and growth of the Institute relations with the surrounding community remained excellent through outstanding outreach efforts and community involvement by all the Institutes constituencies.
John, I was thinking about you and wondered where you ended up after retiring from Wentworth. I was sorry to hear about your wife, and since your communication here is several years ago, I hope everything turned out well.
Best wishes from Estero, FL.
Jerry