Guy Campbell, a lecturer for senior elective mechanical engineering courses, will be retiring from UW-Platteville after 7 years at the university.

Campbell attended Notre Dame in his undergraduate studies and continued on to Kettering University (at the time, General Motors Institute of Technology) for his master’s degree. Then, he attended Marquette for a PhD and declared himself All but Dissertation (ABD).

How did you become interested in the field in which you taught?

“I had a great manufacturing engineering internship with Cadillac after my sophomore year in college. Before that I didn’t make the distinction between design and manufacturing. Afterwards, I understood what I wanted to do and what was important in my education.”

How did you become interested in teaching?

“I got a gig teaching blueprint reading to local industry and in night classes. I enjoyed it so much I enrolled in a PhD program. As soon as I declared myself ABD, Marquette hired me to teach project management and industrial engineering classes.”

In 2009, he entered the teaching realm of education after spending a total of 35 years in the field of engineering.

He taught at Marquette, then as part of the statewide program in West Bend and Sheboygan for UW-Platteville and in Menasha after the two-year schools merged.

In West Bend, Sheboygan and Menasha, he “brought Platteville to folks who couldn’t come to Platteville, like engineering technicians and drafts people who had jobs and families who couldn’t move.”

And now, after a teaching career of 11 years, Guy Campbell plans to re-enter the industry of mechanical engineering.

What are some fond memories of your time as a college instructor?

“My fondest memories are of interacting with students. Questions in the classroom about how I’d address process problems students were having at work, or emails late at night from students who just realized what I’d said that day meant in the context of their internship made me realize folks were listening and beginning to understand why the course was important.”

Do you have advice to share with students?

“Students: Be interested in your surroundings. You can do your job by focusing on the task at hand, but you’ll have a more interesting life and be more valuable to your employer if you watch what’s happening around you and how your efforts affect the rest of your organization.”

Do you have any comments to add about your experience at UW-Platteville, or as a teacher in general?

“I’ve been blessed to have a lot of great students over the years. They were interested in the material and pushed me to be a better explainer, a better lecturer and to explain WHY with more context.”

Do you have any final words for the university?

“As the political and economic world shifts, don’t forget that the reason you are here is to prepare students. That other stuff is just peripheral.”