Five former Seminole State College employees will be recommended for Emeritus status Feb. 21 to the College’s Board of Regents.  A special afternoon reception will be held for those who are awarded the status of Emeritus by the Board at 2:30 p.m. in the Dan and Andrea Boren Center on campus. Colleagues, family and friends of the honorees are invited to attend.

SSC’s Policy on Emeritus status states that the Seminole State College Board of Regents, at its discretion, may honor recommendations of the President granting retired faculty, administrators or professional staff members emeritus status after retirement.  In evaluating candidates for this honorary status, consideration may be given to length of service, special recognitions and activities, and similar items related to performance.

The five retirees being considered for their long-time dedication and contributions to the institution are: Annette Troglin Barnes (1998-2015), Dan Factor (1995-2015), Dawna Hamm (1991-2015), Gerhard Laule (1988-2013) and Beverly Williams (1991-2011).

Barnes served in education for almost 30 years – 17 of those years at SSC. She began as an adjunct part-time instructor, teaching classes at night following her full-time job as a math teacher in secondary education. After seven years of serving in a part-time role, she took on the full-time position of math instructor. From 2011 to her retirement in 2015, she served as the Math, Science and Engineering Division Chair. Following retirement, she has continued to adjunct for the College.

During her full-time role at SSC, Barnes taught a myriad of courses, including Basic Math, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Trigonometry and Statistics. She also played an integral role in an overhaul to the math curriculum, which included linking developmental courses with accredited courses to help students succeed. Barnes earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at East Central University.

Factor served as a law enforcement officer for 38 years. He spent 17 of those years as the Coordinator of Police at Seminole State College. During his time at the College, he focused on courtesy services, emergency response, criminal investigations, traffic control and maintaining a safe and peaceful campus. He also devoted a great deal of time and effort to compliance with record keeping and statistical reporting for state and national guidelines.

Factor began his career in law enforcement at the Wewoka Police Department in 1977. He has worked for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the Light Horse Police and the State Department of Corrections — where he ran a dog team at Boley — all before finding his way to SSC.

Hamm served the College for 27 years. She began in 1988 as an adjunct and took a full-time position in 1991. When she retired in 2015, she held the position of Business and Information Systems Division Chair. As Division Chair, she was responsible for scheduling, budgeting and assessment reports. She also continued to teach 15-18 hours each semester.

Hamm attended what was then Seminole Junior College and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Oklahoma. She completed her MBA at Oklahoma City University. Before working at SSC, she worked in accounting at OU and for a CPA in Shawnee.

Laule served the College for 25 years. For four years, he served as the Math, Science and Engineering Division Chair. He also served a term as President of the Faculty Senate. He primarily taught Intro to Chemistry, Chemistry I and Chemistry II. Early in his career at SSC, he wrote a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation for the purchase of computers for campus. The grant was awarded, increasing student access to the technology. He also created a website and online assignments for his class years before the College adapted a campus-wide online learning portal.

Laule received his bachelor’s degree at Central Arkansas University and his master’s degree at the University of Arkansas.

He currently spends his time working in trail maintenance and construction in both Oklahoma and Arkansas. He’s a competitive cyclist and an active member of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Shawnee.

Williams served the College for 20 years as a Biology Instructor. She also served many years as the Vice Chair of the Math, Science and Engineering Division. She helped the College redesign its science curriculum. She also spearheaded the Bridge to Bachelor’s program that assisted SSC students with completing their four-year degree in partnership with East Central University.

Williams received both her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from ECU.

Following her retirement from SSC, Williams worked as a tutor in the College’s STEM lab. She currently enjoys honing her skill as a painter. She often enrolls in art courses at SSC on an audit basis to indulge her passion.

For more information about this event, please contact the Seminole State College President’s Office at 405-382-9200.