Dr. Stevenson

The J-School had a nice memorial service for Dr. Stevenson last Saturday. We got to hear from a couple of professors at UNC, two of the doctoral students he had mentored, as well as his neice and nephew. You always wonder if you really know the person behind the professor that you know at school, and after hearing everyone speak, I realized that Dr. Stevenson, for all of his curmudgeonly tendancies, was quite transparent. He was who he was. He did not hide the fact that he had low regard for both qualitative research and public relations research (two areas I am interested in), yet he didn't disregard me. He kept at me, teaching me statistics, broadening my view of the world. Those are both great qualities in a professor: transparent and enlightening. I hope I can do both in my new job.