Prof joins rare club after 55 years teaching at Baylor

He’s a Baylor legend who has taught generations of students, with a tenure only one other professor in Baylor history can match.

A lot has changed since Master Teacher and Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Roger Kirk began teaching at Baylor in 1958. Consider that, when he arrived, Armstrong Browning Library and the Tidwell Bible Building were relative newcomers; each was less than seven years old. Or, remember that Baylor University has inaugurated 14 presidents since 1845; Dr. Kirk has served under nearly half of them (six).

Kirk recently became just the second Baylor employee in history to serve for 55 years, joining another Baylor legend, longtime history professor Rufus Spain. Over that time, Kirk’s incredible list of accolades includes being recognized as Outstanding Tenured Teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1993, the Herbert H. Reynolds Award for Exemplary Service to Baylor in 2008, and the Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year Award in 2012.

[READ this excellent feature on Dr. Kirk from the Baylor Lariat]

Those in his field may recognize him best for his first book, Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences, which remains one of the most frequently cited books in psychology.

Very few people can claim to have served at Baylor anywhere close to as long as Kirk. One of them, however, is his wife. Jane Abbott-Kirk, associate professor of piano in the School of Music, came to Baylor in 1973. Two years later, she and Roger married, and together they’ve shared their lives with Baylor students in the nearly four decades since. That’s a combined 95 years of Baylor teaching experience!

Sic ’em, Kirk family!

(Photo via the Baylor Lariat]