Student view
Wayne Hamilton
(Editor’s note: Full-length version of story.)
In 1960, Wayne Hamilton was fresh out of Case Western Reserve with a new master’s degree in civil engineering in his pocket and a plan to spend a couple years teaching before moving on with his career.
He had three job offers, and opted for the University of Maine. And that’s where his plan went awry.
For more than 37 years, with the exception of 15 months spent getting his Ph.D. at Oklahoma State in a program funded by the National Science Foundation, Hamilton taught at least one course in civil engineering at UMaine every semester.
“What kept me here were the people I was working with, the (academic) programs and the fact that this was a great place to work,” he says.
Among the people at UMaine who changed Hamilton’s life was a civil engineering professor, Frank Taylor, who had already been on the faculty for two decades.
“He was the epitome of a professional,” Hamilton says of his mentor, with whom he shared an office. “He was one of those people who took students’ interests to heart.”
Hamilton served as department chair from 1969-77, during which time Civil Engineering launched its surveying program, and offered one of the first Ph.D.s in environmental engineering in the country. In 1977, he started what would be a 19-year stint as associate dean of the College of Engineering, a position that he accepted on the condition that he continue to be able to teach.
He received the college’s Ashley Campbell Award in 1987 for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.
“My real passion is for undergraduate students, seeing them come in and develop, seeing them change over a four-year period,” says Hamilton, who taught five more semesters after officially retiring from UMaine in 1997. “Coming out of high school, most of them have little clue what they really want to do. Once they get past calculus and physics, as the faculty get them involved in projects, the students begin to see how they can apply their knowledge.”
As associate dean, Hamilton worked with a number of students who transferred or needed re-admittance into the college. He was known for having an open door for any student, beginning at 7:30 a.m. His conversations often lasted long after the students graduated.
“I learned some of the hopes and aspirations they have,” he says. “I also realized that these students and their parents are coming in here looking to a better life. In a lot of cases, they wanted to be able to go from here and help their communities.”
Many of the young people were first-generation college students, just as Hamilton was when he enrolled at Ohio Northern University after two years in the Marines during the Korean War. He also came to know the difference any amount of financial support can make.
“I worked with so many students in my career and knew how much a few dollars can help them. I grew up with the idea that if you have some assets to share with people, you should do it. My father always saw things that needed to be done, and he went ahead and did them.”
It was Frank Taylor who advised Hamilton in the 1960s to “put a little money away in investments.” When he retired, Hamilton took those investments and turned them into scholarship funds at Ohio Northern and the University of Maine Foundation.
“We have so many first-generation students at UMaine,” he says. “My hope is that once they start here, they, too, will ultimately contribute to the Alumni Association and Foundation. In establishing scholarship funds, I’m hoping to provide help and incentive.
“I know of several students who graduated and have contributed to engineering funds. I’ve seen the benefits of establishing a scholarship fund multiplied many times.”
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