Five members of the Hope College faculty will be retiring at the end of the current school year.
The five are: Judy Hillman, who is the Howard R. and Margaret E. Sluyter Associate Professor of Art and Design; Dr. Michael Silver, who is the Frederich Garrett and Helen Floor Dekker Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry; Raymond Smith, professor of kinesiology and director of athletics for men; Dr. John Stoughton, associate professor of mathematics; and Dr. Stephen Taylor, professor of chemistry. Together they have served Hope for a combined total of 135 years.
° Judy Hillman has taught at Hope since 1989. In addition to teaching, she regularly involves students in exhibit-, graphic- and interior-design projects both on campus and in conjunction with her work as a freelance designer. Her extensive community involvement has included consulting on many downtown Holland renovation projects for more than 10 years, and serving as principal designer since 2002 for the museum of the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society, which in May named her its 2008 "Volunteer of the Year."
° Michael Silver has taught at Hope since 1983. His research emphasis is polymer chemistry, and he has mentored many students in collaborative research and authored numerous articles in research journals as well as a chemistry textbook. Hope presented him with its Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1997. In 1988, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation presented him with one of only 10 Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards nationwide, and in 1992 the foundation named him one of only eight recipients of an award through its Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions, selecting him to mentor a post-doctoral fellow.
° Ray Smith joined the Hope faculty in 1970. He was the football coach at Hope for 25 seasons, through the fall of 1994, and also served as golf coach, wrestling coach and assistant baseball coach. He has been director of athletics for men since 1980. In 1999 he received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" during the West Michigan Sports Awards banquet, and in 2006 his hometown of Riverside, Calif., inducted him into its Sport Hall of Fame. Recognition from Hope has included the 2002 "Vanderbush-Weller Development Fund" award, and having the weight room in the DeVos Fieldhouse named in his and his wife Sue's honor in 2005.
° John Stoughton has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1983. His areas of interest in mathematics include topology, dynamical systems, fractal construction, number theory and analytic number theory. In addition to teaching, he has mentored many students in collaborative faculty-student research, and he is the author of numerous articles published in research journals.
° Stephen Taylor has taught at Hope since 1985. His primary teaching focus through the years has been on organic chemistry with a secondary focus on introductory chemistry; he currently teaches the capstone Senior Seminar course, "Science and Christian Perspectives." He has mentored many students in collaborative faculty-student research, and is the author of numerous articles published in research journals. From 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Advisory board of the Petroleum Research Fund, and in 1995 he received one of only eight "Camille and Henry Dreyfus Scholar/Fellow Awards for Undergraduate Institutions" nationwide.