Tom Hess, Ph.D. returns to the classroom

In May 1996, looking for a job after completing his Ph.D. in chemistry at Texas A&M, Tom Hess jokingly advertised for an “elusive permanent position” in the alumni newsletter of Centre College in Danville, Ky., where he had graduated 10 years before. Much to his surprise, a call came quickly and brought him to Pikeville.

“When I was an undergraduate at Centre College, my faculty advisor was a guy named Bill Owens,” said Hess, a long-serving dean of UPIKE’s College of Arts & Sciences and also a professor of chemistry. “Owens left Centre in 1984, and he became president of Pikeville College. I didn’t know any of this at the time. Now I was getting a call out of the blue from Owens, who was having a hard time filling positions in chemistry.”

Hess speculates that Owens had called chemistry professors at Centre, and they told him about Hess’ notice in the newsletter. Two weeks later, Hess met Owens in Louisville to talk about Pikeville College. Being a Louisville native, Hess had never visited the far eastern part of Kentucky and says, “I met some wonderful people there, and they made me an offer, so I started as a professor of chemistry at Pikeville College in the fall of 1996.”

In 1996, Pikeville College was a liberal arts school of about 700 students. But Hessʼ arrival coincided with the founding of the medical school in 1997, the expansion of faculty and, later, the institutionʼs transition from college to university status. Hess’ career has tracked the growth of UPIKE and also some of its tough times.

“I thought I would be here for about five years,” he says, “but I really got into it. I liked teaching and working with students, whether teaching or advising. It’s funny because when I started we had cut down the chemistry department by one position. I jumped in with both feet, never having really taught before, except some labs as a graduate assistant. I loved it; the students make it fun.”

Along the way, he got involved in the accreditation process. He chaired the Educational Program Committee, and then-Dean Wally Campbell sent him to conferences.

He became the division chair for math and science in 2004 while still teaching full time. His administrative role expanded quickly.

“I remember that 2008-2009 was an interesting year,” Hess says. “It was a tough time across higher education. There was the stock market crash of 2008; gifts were down. Our undergraduate program had 635 students. Michael Looney was president. At an accreditation meeting in San Antonio, he invited me to breakfast, and as we talked about the university, he invited me to be Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College.”

Hess has a vivid memory of one of his first meetings with Board Chairman Terry Dotson: “Dotson said, ‘Every time we go below a student-faculty ratio of 16-to-1 we’re in trouble.’ At the time, we were 11.8-to-1; everything was tight. We rolled up our sleeves, and by fall 2010, we jumped to just over 900 full-time students. For the next five years, we continued to grow undergraduate enrollment until we basically doubled our undergraduate enrollment, to a high of about 1,300 after five years.

“We started adding new programs, like the MBA ... Over those five years, we had one of the highest growth rates in the Southeast if not in the country. We built the Coal Building for the medical school, and so their previous space became undergraduate space. In fact, I remember having to answer questions from our accreditors because they were suspicious of the rapid growth.”

When the institution became the University of Pikeville, other colleges were created (Nursing, Business, Education). Hess later became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Last year, after teaching a larger course load, Hess said he realized how much he loved teaching and retired as dean this summer.

“I was given the opportunity to go back to the classroom,” he said. “I plan to be a productive chemistry faculty member for the next number of years.”

He plans to spend his extra time with his grandchildren and children, but true to his work ethic, he hopes to “raise his game” in teaching by incorporating new technologies and teaching. He is also expanding his research in environmental chemistry and says raising money for undergraduate research is at the top of his priorities. Approaching almost a quarter century at Pikeville and still going strong, it appears he has found his “elusive permanent position.”

Looking back, he says the vision for Pikeville College, and its relationship with the community, has driven success: “I’m always struck by how strong the town-gown relationship is. The school has grown up as the community has grown up, and there has always been this wonderful relationship.”