Professor David Current's death will not change class schedules
Students scheduled to take classes with physics professor David Current this semester will not see a change in their class schedule.
Current died in his home Dec. 30 of natural causes, said Sherm Rowley of Helms Funeral Home. He was scheduled to teach his normal classload, said Physics Department Chairman Koblar Jackson, but the classes are still being offered.
“The members of the physics department have been very willing to help out to ensure that Professor Current’s courses can be offered,” Jackson said.
The classes he was scheduled to teach were PHY 578A: Experimental Physics from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9:50 p.m. Wednesdays, and PHS 151: Introductory Physical Science I scheduled 10 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to the CMU spring schedule of classes catalog.
College of Science and Technology Interim Dean Jane Matty said depending on other teachers’ class loads, they may hire another person to fill the open position.
“We are following university procedures to request that Dr. Current’s position be filled by a new faculty member,” Jackson said.
Devoted
Current had taught at Central Michigan University since he was hired in 1966 and was one of the longest serving professors, said Bob Martin, associate vice provost of Faculty Personnel Services.
Assistant professor of physics Chris Tycner, a friend and colleague, said he remembers Current as someone always there to help out in the department — however that might have been.
Whenever a question of policy or departmental strategy came up, Tycner said Current always provided a very “thoughtful” response based on experience at CMU that was unmatched by anyone else.
“As a friend, he also devoted the time to get to know me and he helped me whenever I asked for help,” Tycner said. “The university has lost a great professor and I have lost a friend.”
Tycner said Current had an admirable commitment to students.
“He always placed students first and never complained about spending an extra hour or two, or even longer explaining concepts to students,” Tycner said. “I specifically remember how his schedule appeared to be almost infinitely flexible when students requested make-up labs. He would meet with the students countless of times, at almost any time that was convenient for his students, to make up labs that they missed.”
Jackson, who knew Current well, said he was an individual who cared deeply about the physics department and its students. Jackson said Current had his own approach for teaching and interacting with students.
“He was decidedly and sometimes stubbornly old-school,” Jackson said. “He was known for his high academic standards and his high expectations for student performance.”
At the same time, Current was dedicated to his students’ success and gave freely of his time to any student who came to him for help, Jackson said.
“I have interviewed many former students as a part of my job as department chair, asking them for feedback about our program,” he said. “Those students all remember Dr. Current’s courses as having been challenging, but many also say that they learned more in those courses than in any other they took at CMU.”
Matty said Current would be missed.
“He was most certainly a dedicated teacher and was at CMU for a very long time,” she said.
