Foreign languages professor, former Vice President of Academic Affairs, founding member of Starkville Community Theatre, John Grisham Master Teacher, Outstanding Humanities Faculty Member, ageless Hero Award for Creativity, Starkville Education Hall of Fame, elected twice as President of Robert Holland Faculty Senate at Mississippi State University, Outstanding MSU Faculty Member recognized by Mississippi State Legislature, author of “In Other Words: A Lexicon of Sports for Winners and Losers &hellip and More,” MSU Alumni Association Award for Undergraduate Teaching …
At 84 years old, Robert Wolverton, has achieved the honor of being the oldest full-time professor now teaching at MSU. Since coming to the university in 1977, Wolverton has received many awards and has made an impact on all students, colleagues and anyone he meets on campus.
He said he originally came to MSU in 1977 because of the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“I had been president of a private college in the Midwest, and that was a 24/7 job,” he said. “We also wanted to return to the South and get away from ice and snow.”
Wolverton said he made his final decision based on former MSU President James McComas and the friendly and caring environment.
“Once I returned to teaching, after some 25 years as a college/university administrator, I found the atmosphere on campus to be still very congenial,” Wolverton said.
Wolverton said his definition of success is doing what you love and loving what you do.
“I love my field of classics, and I love the students with whom I work,” he said. “As well, I have found so many opportunities to take part in community affairs, and that too has been very rewarding.”
Wolverton said he was a founding member of the Starkville Community Theatre and he has seen it grown magnificently.
Wolverton said the result of many of these efforts led to several teaching awards, including being elected twice to lead the Faculty Senate and being inducted into the Starkville Education Hall of Fame.
He said he has no plans to retire because he is still able to connect with his students and he loves what he is doing.
Wolverton is currently a professor in the foreign languages department and has been in that position since 1986. His teaching interests are “everything ancient” and his research interests are mythology, etymology and Christianity.
Claire Neely, senior communication major, simply said that he is an abundance of knowledge.
“He is a really good teacher and he wants you to be knowledgeable about other things minus just Latin and mythology, which is what I have him for,” Neely said. “He does daily ‘this is what is happening today’ knowledge.
She said Wolverton teaches on a level where one does not feel like just his student and it has been an honor to have been taught by him.
Robert Harland, associate professor of Spanish and French and Wolverton’s colleague for six years, said Wolverton works hard in both the classroom and in service.
“One thing you would notice if you ever sat on a committee with him is his ability to move things forward and act as a peacemaker so that everybody comes to a conclusion they can all agree on – he is very good at playing Ben Franklin to those who fancy themselves as Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson,” Harland said. “That’s the Bob Wolverton even many professors do not see, yet MSU would be far worse off without him.”
Harland said Wolverton doesn’t know about classics but also knows a lot of information about world history and a vast knowledge of the Bible and its origins.
“He certainly would make a good priest or preacher in any number of churches,” he said. “He is a Catholic, but hardly hard-line when it comes to doctrine.”
Harland said Wolverton is a great person over all.
“He is a good professor, a good administrator, good colleague and a good friend,” Harland said.
He said his students should try and write what he is actually like and their thoughts on the class.
“‘Sweet old man’ doesn’t tell the half of it, and certainly doesn’t account for some of his jokes,” Harland said.
Another foreign languages instructor, Amie Russell, said since she entered the department, Wolverton has acted as a kind of academic grandfather.
“He is brimming with information from the past that can help us plan and make decisions about the future, but he never lords his experience or knowledge over anyone,” she said
Russell said he is always enthusiastic about his work.
“His vitality is continually inspiring, and the love he has for his content area is demonstrated through his teaching, which is probably why his classes are always filled to capacity,” she said. “Working in the same department with him has been a pleasure and an honor.”
Wolverton said he contributes some of his success to his wife, Peggy. She has been his best friend and advisor for 57 years.
“Yes, I, and we, have been truly blessed by God,” he said.