English professors Martha Tolleson and Gordon O’Neal were recognized as Collin College’s first faculty emeriti at All College Day, Aug. 16.
Collin College District President Dr. Neil Matkin said staff championed this program to honor exceptional contributions of faculty members who have committed a significant portion of their careers to Collin College and its students. The Collin College Board of Trustees approved a faculty emeritus distinction for eligible candidates at an early August special meeting.
Faculty members must meet specific criteria in order to be eligible for the distinction including employment as full-time faculty at Collin for a minimum of 10 years, retirement from Collin, and demonstrated accomplishments of excellence in teaching, service, professional development, and leadership at Collin.
Tolleson and O’Neal were the first faculty members to be hired at Collin College in January 1986.
“They have served Collin College and our students with high distinction and are representative of the best of the best. They are dedicated, caring, and scholarly,” Matkin said during All College Day.
Tolleson had been teaching at Grayson College for 10 years when representatives from Collin approached representatives at Grayson College to help run initial classes. At the time, those classes were offered in local public schools at night. Tolleson was asked to work as a liaison with Collin. She worked closely with former president Dr. John Anthony and Dr. Toni Jenkins, who is now the senior vice president of campus operations, as they got ready for Collin’s grand opening in the spring of 1986.
“What they were doing was the most exciting thing I’d ever been part of, and when Toni asked me if I had thought about applying to teach at Collin, I couldn’t believe my good luck,” Tolleson said. “I applied and was hired, and I have never, for one second, regretted that decision. Dr. Anthony built a team of people who eagerly embraced the challenges and rewards of starting this institution.”
O’Neal remembers interviewing with Anthony and telling him he wanted to build his career at Collin and raise his family here.
“Collin then was an exciting place to work with new opportunities every semester,” O’Neal said. “Collin remains true to that beginning excitement and those challenges. With its emphasis on quality teaching above everything else, Collin inspires faculty to excel and to continue trying new things.”
Tolleson said the most important thing she’s learned during her time at Collin has been the collaborative team effort that the college instills.
“I learned that the best decisions are those made with input from as many people as possible,” she said. “No one person, not even five people, can think of everything, and getting fresh perspectives makes for better decisions. From my students, I’ve learned that life can knock people down in ways I might never have fathomed, but resilience, determination, and persistence allow them to lift themselves up so that they can create a better future for themselves.”
O’Neal shared similar sentiments.
“I think the most important thing I learned in my 33 years at Collin is the way responsibility and ownership in programs, innovation, and ideas can help build an amazing team,” he said. “Collin has always valued the input of full- and part-time professors, staff, and students.”
Tolleson and O’Neal both said they are honored and humbled to be named Collin College faculty emeriti.
Nominations for the faculty emeritus program are evaluated by the faculty emeritus committee, the vice presidents/provosts, executive vice president, and the district president.
For more information on the Faculty Emeritus program, please visit www.collin.edu/hr/profdev/faculty_emeritus.html.