‘Dr. Nick’ welcomed to Monmouth College

By: Dustin Looney
Features Editor

The Monmouth College Classics department added a new member to their faculty team for the 2007 spring semester, as it recently hired Nick Dobson as a visiting lecturer.

Dobson said he learned about the open position when he met current Monmouth College Classics professor Tom Sienkewicz at a meeting.

Dobson grew up in Atlanta, Ga., and he earned his undergraduate degree in a drastically different setting, as he went to Rice University in Texas. He then went to the University of Texas for his graduate degree.

He has taught at two different colleges before Monmouth, including one semester at Bucknell University and three years at Cornell College.

He is currently teaching two classes at Monmouth, Word Elements and Scientific Terminology.

He said his time at Monmouth has been enjoyable so far and the Monmouth community has welcomed him with open arms.

“So far, I would say that everyone has been welcoming to me, especially the professors,” Dobson said. “Also, the students have been eager to learn, so you can’t ask for much more.”

Dobson has also been well-received by Monmouth College students. One of his students, sophomore Josh VadeBoncouer, of Kankakee, Ill., said, “Dr. Nick is very open-minded and down-to-earth, and he has good teaching methods.”

Dobson said he commutes each day to Monmouth from Rock Island, which is about an hour drive. His wife is a German professor at Augustana College.

He said he was a linguistics major at Bucknell University and gained interest in the Classics while attending Rice University. In addition to Classics, he also enjoys watching sports and reading. For sports, he supports the Atlanta teams specifically, but said he always roots for the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

Dobson is apparently a good-humored fellow, as he encourages his students to call him “Dr. Nick,” a character from the famous television show, “The Simpsons.”