When Dr. Dale Thompson, a doctor of physics, arrived at HCC, he had a mission: Beat out 300 other applicants, all with Ph.D.s, for the sole full-time teaching position available. Thompson, 68, won the position; mission accomplished. What came afterwards, however, was a bonus for HCC students.
Thompson would go on to accomplish the unimaginable by transforming an astronomy course, considered one of the more difficult of the required sciences, into one of the most popular classes on campus. As a result, Thompson’s class began filling up faster than the speed of light.
“When I first arrived, the joke was that I got the job because HCC thought Ph.D. stood for post-hole digger,” he said. Apparently, they weren’t far off. Prior to applying, Thompson, a graduate of Florida State University, had recently been laid-off by a semi-conductor company in Largo, Fla.. No one in his field was hiring, so he went to work in construction. Then he heard about the opening at HCC; that’s when he applied for the position and finally hit pay-dirt.
Nearly 35 years later, Thompson’s students still flock to his classes at warp-speed. Thompson said he’s not sure if the reason is the course, which doesn’t require a lab, or if it’s his weird sense of humor that attracts so many people. Most of his students, however, are not so skeptical. According to them, the answer is crystal clear – Thompson rocks.
“I registered as soon as the class opened,” said Tequila Dunn, 23, liberal arts major at HCC. “I had been online at ratemyprofessors.com and read about Professor Thompson. He seemed pretty fair,” said Dunn. “Besides, he’s very funny.”
“I believe I can sneak crazy stuff in, and if I get people’s attention, they can learn from it,” said Thompson. “Like the density of a white dwarf, it’s heavy, darn heavy. But they may not understand how heavy. Then I say, well, it’s the weight of 44 elephants per teacup. Stuff like that, they understand.”
Thompson is the first to admit, however, that his teaching style wasn’t always so flamboyant. “When I first started, I was too serious, wearing a tie and everything. But I changed as a person because the students changed. I evolved,” said Thompson.
Thompson recently retired from teaching full-time at HCC. He did, however, choose to stay on part-time and teach one class, the one that changed his universe and the universe of many students alike, astronomy.
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