Toughest Professor/Instructor you had in college

[81b&w]

Another opposite. I was fortunate enough to take Joe Humphrey's fly fishing class one semester and it turned out to be my only A that term. My father sent me a note and said too bad there wasn't a class in beer drinking, I could have gotten two A's. Have kept in touch with Joe ever since, what a great PSU'er he's been

 

[AWS1022]

Accounting prof I had in grad school. He would take his own tests and be happy if he got a C. I didn’t have a prayer.

 

[Jessebelle]

I was just thinking about Moss being a tough SOB. IIRC, he and Prof. Ermer taught the same type of classes and you couldn't dodge one for the other. Ermer was tough too. But Moss may gave been at the top. This was late 60's.

Moss failed like 60% of the class. Surprisingly, I did OK.

He talked more about mining in So America than engineering economy. My senior year I had him for a class. 12 grad students and 11 seniors. he gave 3 As and 3 Bs I got B and my friend got an A. 8 grad students got screwed.

 

[Hotshoe]

Easy. Dr. Medhi Haririan at Bloom. Honest, but tough as hell in economics. He was an awesome person and took such hateful nonsense because he was from Iran. Also an advisor to my fraternity. He literally had the Mikey Mouse F you placed on his office door.

Mehdi Haririan, Professor | intranet.bloomu.edu

intranet.bloomu.edu

 

[bison13]

My English 15 professor. She outright said "Getting a D in my class is like getting an A or B in another class"

First ever class at psu. English 15 in sackett with 30 other freshmen engineering students. She was hot but lesbian and let us know sh hated dudes. 3 chicks in class all got a's. One guy pretended to be gay and got a b. The rest of us got c's save for the one guy who in his day 1 introduction said he came to psu to watch football games. He got a d. A few of us protested the grades but nothing happened.

 

[Hotshoe]

As far as history, no contest. Dr. Thomas Cutrer and Dr. Gilbert Cruz, both at Arizona State. They were phenomenal. Tough? What is tough? We drank beers every Thursday night in Tempe discussing history. I'd literally kill to go back to those days. Not tough at all.

Dr. Thomas Cutrer: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469631561/theater-of-a-separate-war/

Dr. Gilbert Cruz: https://www.tamupress.com/search-results/?keyword=Let-There-Be-Towns

 

[ForesterGump]

I had a chem prof at Mont Alto. mid '60s I think his name was Dr Gregory. He didn't want any girls in his class, so he made his test tough enough to flunk most of them out. I had 3 chem courses with him, and he mellowed out as you advanced through his courses.

Hardest course was statistics. The prof graded the first test on a curve. I had a 31 and that was a D. Highest score was a 65.

We had a prof at Mont Alto that would buy a coke from the machine. Back then, the coke came out in a paper cup. He would drink about half of it and go to his office. When he came to class, the cup was full.

 

[PSU73]

Aaah wow. I can't remember the prof's name or exactly the course (it was 49 years ago), but he taught Accounting He was tough. Don't recall my grade either. The one thing I remember was how he just blew up when explaining the concept of a 'legal entity' and it wasn't really coming across to many in the class. He was smart and I found myself later in my career explaining a ‘legal entity' to lots of people. Don't know how to say this in 2020 but he was a black professor. Maybe that will help some remember his name. I'll come up with it but probably not till sometime Sunday at about 2 am.

 

[psu_1294]

He talked more about mining in So America than engineering economy. My senior year I had him for a class. 12 grad students and 11 seniors. he gave 3 As and 3 Bs I got B and my friend got an A. 8 grad students got screwed.

I probably owe Moss and Ermer some gratitude. I likely passed my PE exam (state of Indiana) because of them. There were 3-4 questions on Engineering Economics and I did very well on those. I probably just got enough credit on the circuits, dynamics, fluids, etc. to pass. I was shocked when I got the notification that I passed. Never really used the license.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Great film.

View embedded media

John Housman was the actor playing the professor. He actually taught an acting class in college. While making the movie, he showed a clip of this to his class. They told him he wasn’t acting at all as that is just the way he is.

 

[The Spin Meister]

First ever class at psu. English 15 in sackett with 30 other freshmen engineering students. She was hot but lesbian and let us know sh hated dudes. 3 chicks in class all got a's. One guy pretended to be gay and got a b. The rest of us got c's save for the one guy who in his day 1 introduction said he came to psu to watch football games. He got a d. A few of us protested the grades but nothing happened.

My Speech 200 prof was President of the local NOW chapter. All females got As.....all males got Cs.

 

[GSPMax]

No names.

Toughest/Worst--Physics 202 and Differential Equations. Both essentially self taught courses.

Toughest/Best--Dynamics. Many thought he was the toughest and avoided his class but he was the best Professor I ever had at PSU. Him and his wife later became very very good friends.

 

[GregInPitt]

Whoever I had for ME22 (? I believe, it was long ago...) Thermo. Not much he said was comprehensible, so a few of us would leave early and hang out in the lounge, 2nd floor Hammond....

Runner up would likely be whoever the foreigner is that I had for EMech 12, as he was so difficult to understand it really made it tough to get anything out of the class time.... Nothing against the guy, as he seemed like a good man doing his best to cover the material, but if you are hard to understand due to not speaking English well it really is not fair to the students......

 

[bison13]

No names.

Toughest/Worst--Physics 202 and Differential Equations. Both essentially self taught courses.

Toughest/Best--Dynamics. Many thought he was the toughest and avoided his class but he was the best Professor I ever had at PSU. Him and his wife later became very very good friends.

My physics 202 Professor was one of the best. But my diffEQ was definitely one of the worst.

 

[NewEra 2014]

I was wondering also if he was referring to Dr. Lowe. My best buddy was Chem E. and I was Chem. My buddy flunked it the first time he took the course and retook it when I was in the course. I passed it, but that was a horrible experience. Dr. Lowe complained in class on the very first day that PSU was foolish for not allowing him to use his own written textbook for the course, but we ended up using his textbook instead of the assigned one.

I thought Dr. Lowe taught a freshman Chemistry class. He dressed up as a wizard for Halloween and put on a great lecture with explosions and smoke, etc.

I bombed the first test in the class that year. I went to see him at office hours and he really helped me understand what I was getting wrong. I ended up with an A, but I dug myself out of a big hole that semester due to his help.

 

[bison13]

I thought Dr. Lowe taught a freshman Chemistry class. He dressed up as a wizard for Halloween and put on a great lecture with explosions and smoke, etc.

I bombed the first test in the class that year. I went to see him at office hours and he really helped me understand what I was getting wrong. I ended up with an A, but I dug myself out of a big hole that semester due to his help.

Was that jurs?

 

[PSU77sh]

When I was at Penn State they had recently brought in several new profs from schools in the Midwest. Had a guy for Intermediate Accounting I and II. Can't recall his name. Hardest classes I ever had.

 

[john4psu]

I am terrible with foreign languages and in Liberal Arts late (60's) you had to take two courses at 4 credits each. "C’est vraiment des conneries!"
I took French 1 and 2, failing each the 1st time and getting Cs the 2nd time. That gave me the equivalent of 16 credits worth of D's. Fortunately I aced enough History and Poli Sci courses to weather the storm but those French classes damn near killed me. 😠

I had French 1, 2 and 3 and it was all Greek to me.

 

[The Stan]

For me -Dr Najarian-Chemical Engineering Prof.

i think he enjoyed destroying the spirit of undergrads.

I agree. I remember him solving equations on the board by sort of simplifying fractions faster than people with calculators

 

[Evan Ceg]

Aloysius Robert Caponigri, political philosophy professor at Notre Dame in the early 70's. He announced to the class of about 15 of us that he was going to read a passage from St. Augustine that many considered one of the most beautiful flights of prose ever constructed. He read it in Latin. We all sat with blank and helpless expressions and he was appalled to discover we had been admitted to Notre Dame without fluency in Latin. A pure intellectual.

Ruth Silva, constitutional law professor (undergrad) at Penn State in the early 70's. If you came to class unprepared, you were going to get embarrassed. I never worked so hard for a "B", and I really enjoyed the subject.

 

[RedBankerEngr]

Went thru Engineering Mechanics BS program in three years: started Fall 1960 thru Summer of 1963. Fall 1960 and Spring 1961 were semester format. Summer 1961 started the Four Term System - 75 minute classes and 20 minutes between classes. An attempt to use facilities year around.

One term I had to take a required EM Junior year course and a required EM Senior year course, both of which were scheduled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the same time. Bursar would not allow scheduling of both classes at same time, so one class was scheduled as "Research in Engineering Mechanics".

My plan was to go to each every other class for the 2 courses. However, one prof said he would fail me if I came to class only half time. The other prof said I didn't have to come to his class at all.

At end of term the second prof said: "You earned an "A", but you never came to class so I am giving you a "B"!

Neither one was Raz's Dad.

 

[RedBankerEngr]

Whoever I had for ME22 (? I believe, it was long ago...) Thermo. Not much he said was comprehensible, so a few of us would leave early and hang out in the lounge, 2nd floor Hammond....

Runner up would likely be whoever the foreigner I had for EMech 12, as he was so difficult to understand it really made it tough to get anything out of the class time.... Nothing against the guy, as he seemed like a good man doing his best to cover the material, but if you are hard to understand due to not speaking English well it really is not fair to the students......

Had him or one like him in EM. "Were-so" was vessel.

 

[auxgym]

Guess I will go Randy Woolridge -Finance
Coolest Prof ever though...

Randy Wooldridge....... had him for a Class ......loved listening to him......I tried to hang in there......at the end we had to turn a paper in. Due to other classes I bagged it and was prepared for the worst. Grades came out he gives me an I!....?what the hell is an I?.......He gave me an incomplete! I'm thinking what the hell? So, I go meet with him. He would always call me Mr. ________. He says Mr. _______ here is what I think we should do.........I'm doing some research and it involves micro fiche.........so I want you to go to Pattee and search through for 16 hours of data for me and document the following information. 16 hours later.......C!!!!!
When you say Coolest Prof ever........it is not an understatement!!

 

[phillybillyreprise]

I can’t remember her name but my labor economics teacher was brutal! An “A” was 82 percent with the curve. She was brutal!

Mine was Eugene Myers a Labor Economics professor. In the introductory course with about 50 in the class I did well in the first test. When he was handing back the marked 2nd test, handed mine to me and said “ Here’s the equalizer” .
I had him again for the 400 level labor Econ course. The class was all seniors and graduate students. The first test the highest score was in the 80’s. The second test was harder. We were assigned group papers. No group earned higher than “C”. I had 4 classes that quarter. I aced the other 3 and earned a “C” in Labor Econ.

 

[ButlerEagle]

Who was that guy who taught accounting 101 by closed circuit tv in the early 80s? Good Lord he mumbled all the time and I could not get it. Chick who sat next to me looked like jennifer beals. Hard to concentrate

 

[Fayette_LION]

Prof Roger Gerkin, Advanced Thermodynamics. But a really good guy and good teacher.

Mean Moe Mazingo, Civil Engr, structures, A real bartardo

 

[1995PSUgrad]

I took fencing for PE back in 1994. I thought I would get to swing a sword around and have some fun. Showed up the first day and Emik Kaidanov was the instructor. I guess since he was the greatest fencing coach in the history of the world, he took fencing pretty seriously. I realized that day that class wasn't going to be what I thought it would be, so I dropped it.

 

[GSPMax]

Mean Moe Mazingo, Civil Engr, structures, A real bartardo

Was he the guy who was allergic to chalk dust and before he would come into the room students smack the erasers to create a cloud of dust.

 

[psuro]

I was wondering also if he was referring to Dr. Lowe. My best buddy was Chem E. and I was Chem. My buddy flunked it the first time he took the course and retook it when I was in the course. I passed it, but that was a horrible experience. Dr. Lowe complained in class on the very first day that PSU was foolish for not allowing him to use his own written textbook for the course, but we ended up using his textbook instead of the assigned one.

I had him in the mid 1980s in whatever the building across from the Hub was called. He had a beard and was losing his hair. Had glasses. Basically exactly what you would expect a Chem prof to look like.

 

[MrDibbs]

When I saw this thread, the only person I thought of was the aforementioned Ralph Mozingo. I had him for surveying lab (Old Main lawn for 4 hours, once a week), determinate AND indeterminate structural analysis and an advanced structural design course during my last term. Somehow, I missed him for foundation engineering.

The man was a demanding instructor and he was certainly never an easy grade, but I learned a lot and more importantly, I knew what I didn't understand. That was the difference between an A and a B when you had the best test scores in his class.

He was eccentric and would talk about his "design" for engineering education - basically, attend class/lab and never take an exam. At the end of the 4 year course of study, take a "one problem" comprehensive final exam. Turn it in and show up at commencement. When your name is called, the dean turns to him as he looks in the book. If you passed the test, you got the diploma. If you didn't pass, you got a dead fish.

This was late 60s, early 70s Mozingo. I imagine he didn't change much as he aged.

I also googled his name and discovered that he passed back in May. RIP, Ralph. You will never be forgotten.

 

[thewholebit]

I’m not a Penn State grad. I wish my professors were impactful enough to remember. Sadly, they were not. Enjoy today’s games, everyone.

 

[PSU73]

Who was that guy who taught accounting 101 by closed circuit tv in the early 80s? Good Lord he mumbled all the time and I could not get it. Chick who sat next to me looked like jennifer beals. Hard to concentrate

Likely G. Kenneth Nelson
Penn State Professor G. Kenneth Nelson teaching “Accounting 101 Live” on television from a studio in Mitchell Building, circa 1979. Nelson taught thousands of students this way over his 36-year career.
IMAGE: WPSU PENN STATE

 

[HartfordLlion]

In Engineering they all seemed tough, especially the ones who had trouble speaking the English language.

 

[TheGLOV]

For me -Dr Najarian-Chemical Engineering Prof.

i think he enjoyed destroying the spirit of undergrads.

College hell!

My 6th grade teach Sister Justice!

Yep, that was her 'nun' name!!

Swung a ruler and paddle better than most MLB players on your ass and hands!

 

[TheGLOV]

Likely G. Kenneth Nelson
Penn State Professor G. Kenneth Nelson teaching “Accounting 101 Live” on television from a studio in Mitchell Building, circa 1979. Nelson taught thousands of students this way over his 36-year career.
IMAGE: WPSU PENN STATE

He's was ok.

I enjoyed his class for as many times as I was in attendance!



1st distance learning class!

 

[ButlerEagle]

Likely G. Kenneth Nelson
Penn State Professor G. Kenneth Nelson teaching “Accounting 101 Live” on television from a studio in Mitchell Building, circa 1979. Nelson taught thousands of students this way over his 36-year career.
IMAGE: WPSU PENN STATE

Yes that is him. Nelson. I dropped the class, sadly. Those flashdance outfits jennifer wore just spun me around

 

[step.eng69]

I had a chem prof at Mont Alto. mid '60s I think his name was Dr Gregory. He didn't want any girls in his class, so he made his test tough enough to flunk most of them out. I had 3 chem courses with him, and he mellowed out as you advanced through his courses.

Hardest course was statistics. The prof graded the first test on a curve. I had a 31 and that was a D. Highest score was a 65.

We had a prof at Mont Alto that would buy a coke from the machine. Back then, the coke came out in a paper cup. He would drink about half of it and go to his office. When he came to class, the cup was full.

Dark or light rum?

 

[Nittanyfarmer]

Was that jurs?

Yes. Dr. Lowe taught freshman Chemistry class, but he also taught at the 400 levels Chem classes. He was great with freshmen, but expected a great deal more with the upper class people.

 

[razpsu]

Mine was Eugene Myers a Labor Economics professor. In the introductory course with about 50 in the class I did well in the first test. When he was handing back the marked 2nd test, handed mine to me and said “ Here’s the equalizer” .
I had him again for the 400 level labor Econ course. The class was all seniors and graduate students. The first test the highest score was in the 80’s. The second test was harder. We were assigned group papers. No group earned higher than “C”. I had 4 classes that quarter. I aced the other 3 and earned a “C” in Labor Econ.

Yea it was Econ 415. Brutal. Sounds like the same class different prof. 3 d graphs without computers. It was cool and tough.

 

[psuro]

Who was that guy who taught accounting 101 by closed circuit tv in the early 80s? Good Lord he mumbled all the time and I could not get it. Chick who sat next to me looked like jennifer beals. Hard to concentrate

Was this in 1984? And was this girl fairly well endowed?