After nearly four decades of in the classroom, James Brodman has officially retired from teaching in the Department of History.
Although the list of Brodman’s achievements is extensive, one that has affected the university the most was his part in helping found the Honors College.
The Honors College’s goal is to recruit academically talented and motivated students to UCA and engage them through enhanced educational opportunities in a living/learning environment designed to develop their capacities as citizen-scholars.
“I was one of the founders of the Honors College. The Honors College is credited with bringing lots of very capable students to UCA. Thinking back, we’ve always had some very good students here,” said Brodman.
Rick Scott, dean of the Honors College, said that Brodman’s impact of his long and prosperous career at UCA will be manifest for many decades to come in the lives and successes of his students.
“Jim Brodman and Norb Schedler were part of a team of arts and sciences faculty that inaugurated the UCA Honors College nearly 30 years ago, and I appreciate Dr. Brodman’s efforts in its founding,” Scott said.
Brodman graduated from the University of Virginia with his doctorate in Medieval History, and began his employment as an assistant professor at UCA in 1972.
Brodman, who has worked under four presidents, has seen a lot of changes in the university and the city of Conway since he has lived here.
“I came in 1972, and the student population was probably 3,000 to 4,000. I always tell people that Conway had four full traffic lights,” Brodman said. “Coming from the east coast to a small southern town where no one locked their doors freaked me out for a little while. It was a very different experience.”
Brodman’s wife, who has been retired for the past two years, is one of the reasons he is retiring this year.
“She’s been bugging me to retire, so I finally decided that she was right,” Brodman said.
Brodman plans to continue teaching through cruise ship lectures during his retirement.
“People don’t go into academics to get rich, but the wonderful part of this profession is that it enables you to do something that you enjoy, and it gives you a great deal of independence without the necessity of having to run your own business,” Brodman said. – Lisa Burnett