Faculty & Staff Retirements

Several beloved faculty and staff members recently retired. We miss them, but wish them the best retirement!

Arthur Hochman

Dr. Arthur Hochman joined the College of Education at Butler University in 1989 and retired from Butler in May of 2022 after completing 33 years of service. In that time, Dr. Hochman made significant contributions in helping shape the culture of the COE, teaching community- and school-based courses in early childhood and elementary education and the Arts, and mentoring numerous colleagues, students, and alumni. As a parting gift, Dr. Hochman created the Hochman Ligon Scholarship in honor of Valerie Ligon ’97, to benefit students of color studying education..

Rick Mitchell

Professor Rich Mitchell joined the Butler University-Pike Township partnership as the Master Practitioner in 2012. Prior to joining COE, Rick spent four years in the United States Marine Corps, then 38 years of teaching. He spent 11 years teaching middle school; five years as an assistant principal; 11 years as an ICP/ Bio teacher at Pike; and 10 years as the Master Practitioner for the Pike/Butler Partnership. At Pike, he has worked with 166 new teachers and has been a professor for 214 student teachers – over 20 of them who ended up being Pike teachers.

Chris Price

Chris started at Butler University in the summer 1991 as an in-house temporary secretary in the College of Business Dean’s office. In the fall of 1991, she was hired full-time in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Physics and Astronomy department and stayed there until 2001 when she moved to the COE to become the Budget Manager and Office Administrator. In all, she worked at Butler for 32 years and said that she loved every minute of it. She says she was blessed to work with wonderful people and made many lasting friendships.

Cindy Smith

Cindy worked in the College of Education at Butler University for 19 years, and most recently served as the Event and Scheduling Coordinator before retiring in Jan 2022. Her daughter, Liz, was four years old when she started at the University and now, she is a 2020 graduate of Butler. She enjoyed working for the COE and watching students blossom in front of her eyes. She also enjoyed two trips to Italy as a staff chaperone with a group of students. She said she’s made many lifelong relationships and she considers the COE her family.