Rocky Mount, N.C.— Two long-time professors at North Carolina Wesleyan College have announced their retirement in the summer, following commencement in May.

Dr. Marshall A. Brooks, an education professor, has been at Wesleyan for 29 years, and Dr. Richard L. Watson III, a history professor, has been at the College for 35 years.

Dr. Brooks

Brooks came to Wesleyan in 1978 well-prepared for the variety of responsibilities he has shouldered. He earned his B.S. degree in biology/secondary education at the University of Missouri at Columbia, his master’s in teaching science education at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, and his Ph.D. there in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in science education.

He gained practical experience in positions with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Carteret County (N.C.) Schools, and the East St. Louis School District in Illinois before coming to Wesleyan.

At NCWC, Brooks proved his ability as a teacher and also as a key administrator. For six years he served as vice president of academic affairs and dean of the College (1986-1992). Later he served again in that capacity, twice (2000-2001 and spring 2003). He headed the Teacher Education Program for four years, and in 1997-98 served as chairman of the faculty.

His knowledge, experience, and concern for his students have made Brooks one of Wesleyan’s most outstanding professors. He taught many subjects, with recent courses being Educational Psychology, Educational Technology, Science Methods for the Elementary School, Educational Tests and Measurements, Middle and Secondary Curriculum, and Science Methods for Middle and Secondary Schools. Always up-to-date, Brooks made some of his courses available online.

Many students consider Brooks a mentor who patiently helped them prepare to become classroom teachers. “Dr. Brooks is very easy going,” said one of his former students. “He teaches with enthusiasm and he was very encouraging and supportive.” Another praised Brooks for his “genuine love for science, which definitely shows in his teaching.”

Students admire his broad range of knowledge and say he “will work with you through everything.” Prospective teachers say they appreciate his “great feedback” and his “meaningful answers and explanations.”

Not only has Brooks been highly involved with Wesleyan students but he often works with area schools, especially on improving science teaching and learning.

He has long been actively involved in national and state educators’ associations, has led workshops on improving science teaching, and was an early advocate of quality preschool education in Eastern North Carolina.

Wesleyan named Brooks the 1997-98 Jefferson Pilot Professor—an endowed award that is the highest honor Wesleyan bestows upon a faculty member. In 2004 he delivered the College’s commencement address.

As a result of Brooks’ affiliation with the Carolina Bird Club and Partners in Flight, he recently co-edited, with Mark Johns, Birding North Carolina. Proceeds from the guide benefit bird conservation. Brooks also is the local coordinator for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and webmaster for North Carolina’s Partners in Flight.

In retirement, Brooks and his wife will move to Rutherford County and spend more time with family and friends. He will continue his work with bird surveys and banding, and he and his wife will volunteer in the community and Central America.

“In June we will spend a week in Costa Rica on a mission trip sponsored by our church, The Church of the Good Shepherd,” he said. “Susan will assist with the medical team and I will be working on the construction team. In the future I hope to volunteer with the Institute for Bird Populations (in Point Reyes, California) in either Nicaragua and/or Costa Rica. Of course, these are only our immediate plans. There is no telling where our interests will ultimately take us. Which is to say that we are very excited as we enter together into the next phase of our lives.”



Dr. Watson

In 1972, Richard L. Watson III, a history student working on his dissertation at Boston University, applied to be an instructor of history at North Carolina Wesleyan College. A former Durham resident—and son of prominent Duke University history professor Dr. Richard L. Watson, Jr.—the younger Watson had earned his B.A. in history at Duke in 1967 and had completed his master’s degree and his Ph.D. courses at Boston University.

Recommendations from several professors at Boston included these comments:

“He is an excellent teacher, extracting participation, knowing his subject, and holding their interest…. He will be an effective and a popular one.”

Another professor wrote: “I am confident he can carry out sustained research activity competently and even brilliantly.”

And another: “I expect him to have an excellent and profitable career as a scholar and teacher in African history.”

Dr. Richard L. Watson III was hired at Wesleyan in the fall of 1972. The rest is history, as some might say, for in his 35 years at Wesleyan, he has amply fulfilled all of his former professors’ prophecies of success—and more.

He has taught more than a dozen courses in subjects that include African history in particular, Western civilization, cultural anthropology, European history, and African-American history. Alumni have presented him with their Distinguished Professor Award, and he has received the United Methodist Award for Exemplary Teaching.

As a scholar, his work has included two books: The Slave Question: Liberty and Property in South Africa (1990)—called “a valuable addition to slavery studies” by the American Historical Review—and South Africa in Pictures (1988). He also has authored numerous articles in refereed journals and encyclopedias, and has published many reviews in professional journals.

Watson took part in a U.S. Office of Education travel-study program in the late 1970s, lived in African urban areas and peasant villages, and visited Africa four other times. In 1986 he conducted research in South Africa on the movement for the abolition of slavery there in the 1820s and 1830s.

He was a part-time visiting lecturer at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill in 1980-81, teaching African history concurrently with his Wesleyan duties. Twice he was honored as Wesleyan’s Jefferson Pilot Professor, Wesleyan’s highest academic honor. He was the College’s December commencement speaker in 2003.

He has chaired the History Department, the Social Sciences Division, and four times has led the Faculty Council. He has headed symposiums, workshops, received numerous grants, and the list goes on and on.

Students praise him as “tough but fair, demanding but reasonable,” “friendly, enthusiastic, interesting,” “always available outside of class,” and “willing to assist individual students.” One former student said, “Dr. Watson’s love of Africa and his life experiences in Africa…made me want to learn.”

What are his plans for retirement? Watson says, “I hope to finish a large research project that I’ve been working on since 1999 and publish the results, to travel more, perhaps to teach a course from time to time, and to do some volunteer work.”