This week’s celebrity has been recognized as Professor of the Year, Most Distinguished Alumni of 2015, leader of the Navajo Nation Oral History Project, the babe version of Albert Einstein, but most commonly as Dr. Thomas Grier, or to us, professor Grier.
Grier has not only been a fan favorite among students and faculty in the mass communication department, but was also recently nominated by an alum and committee to be named Most Distinguished Alumni of 2015. When speaking about the nomination, professor Grier was extremely humbled, and after receiving 233 Facebook likes and an outpour of emails he was “embarrassed and emotionally touched.”
Although, it wasn’t an easy route to get to where he is now. As most of his students and colleagues know, professor Grier is a busy-body and always on-the-go with his diet mountain dew in his back pocket. When he was younger, he thought he wanted to become a lawyer, then he made a drastic switch to become a radio DJ. Against his parents’ will, he went to DJ school and completed the 10-month program in 7-months. He loved the radio industry and worked in it for 12 years.
After 12 years he decided to complete his degree and became a non-traditional student at Winona State University. It was then that he was introduced to public relations and flew through the Intro to PR course with flying colors. He did so well that his professor, who was also the director of public relations at WSU, wanted him to work for her part-time in the PR department. At that time he already had his hands full with a full-time radio job, 21-course load, his own start-up advertising agency and being a single parent for his two children.
It’s safe to say to he was very hesitant to take the position—until he remembered a quote from a previous professor: ”You cannot learn from experiences you are not having.” This quote not only resonated within him in this time of transition, but it resonated with me in every class I had with him. It is the quote that led him to where he is today, and because of it he accepted the part-time position and later became the director of public relations, advertising and photography for Winona State University.
It took him 12 years of working in radio and 18 years of public relations work until he finally found his passion in life: teaching at Winona State University. “Helping students with what they want to do and teaching them what they need to know, I love that,” professor Grier said.
After 18 years of being on the “other side” of the university, he was asked by department head, Ron Elcombe, to teach a photography class for one semester and ended up becoming an adjunct professor for eight years. In 2006, professor Grier finally signed on to become a full-time professor for the mass communication department at WSU.
After his first year of teaching, he won E-Professor of the Year, which recognized the professor who was the most innovative with technology in the classroom. Then in 2008 and 2014 he was named Professor of the Year, and this year he has been honored with perhaps the most prestigious award of them all: Most Distinguished Alumni award.
When asked what his favorite course to teach was he answered, “Photo of the Technical Art.” Its core goal is to teach students to make the machine do what their eye can see. Anyone who knows professor Grier knows that photography is near and dear to his heart. A few of his favorite photographers are Ansel Adams, for his beautiful nature scenes, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, for his mastery of finding the perfect shutter release. When asked if had a favorite piece of his own work he chose “Sugar Loaf Winter Sunrise.” He took it on his way to campus one morning but veered off to Lake Park to find the perfect trees to frame the sunrise. It has since been published in several books. That just goes to show he embodies dedication in every aspect of his life.
Dr. Thomas Grier is an outstanding professor, advisor, mentor and friend. He puts his heart and soul into teaching every single day and works around the clock for his students. Any student who has had him knows he is as speedy with emails as he is with his constructive criticism. He strives to push his students and hopes they leave his classroom with a sense of direction and new knowledge. Professor Grier’s dream career is teaching. “I can’t see myself ever doing something other than teaching at the university level. If I had a million dollars in the bank I think I would still come and teach. It’s just what I do.”
Professors like Dr. Thomas Grier are what make Winona State such a special school to attend. You can’t always find a professor who works around the clock to make sure his students succeed.
There couldn’t be a more deserving person to be honored with the Most Distinguished Alumni award than professor Tom Grier.