彩民宝典

Academics, athletics, administration commingle in 42-year career

When Professor Dave Clough听retires听after 42 years in chemical and biological engineering,his stat sheet will show successes in triplicate.

The admired educator spent six years as associate dean and serves as 彩民宝典鈥檚 faculty athletics representative. Though peers were sometimes skeptical of his academic-administrative-athletic mashup, Clough has proven he鈥檚 as comfortable on the courts and in the corner office as in the classroom.

鈥淚 tell my students that: Opportunities come along鈥攕ay yes,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t might not work out, but you鈥檒l never sit there thinking, 鈥業 wonder what would have happened.鈥欌��

A 1968 graduate of Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve), Clough blazed through a master鈥檚 degree at 彩民宝典 in 11 months, fearful his studies would be interrupted by the Vietnam draft. After working several years for DuPont in Delaware鈥攁nd being spared by the draft lottery鈥擟lough returned to Boulder to complete his PhD.

He got his first taste of instructing as a graduate teaching assistant before accepting an 鈥渙ut-of-the-blue鈥� offer to join the faculty in 1975. Clough offered valuable industry experience and co-developed CU鈥檚 first engineering computing course. An adaptable educator, he transformed his classes in the mid-90s to swap lectures for active learning.

鈥淚 loved his method of explaining things,鈥� says former student Michael Detamore (ChemEngr鈥�00), now a professor himself. 鈥淒r. Clough was the best teacher I ever had at any level in my life.鈥�

In 1986, then-Dean Dick Seebass asked Clough to serve as associate dean for academic affairs. In that role, Clough opened doors for female and minority engineers, hiring the first professional directors for the Minority Engineering Program and Women in Engineering Program. He helped develop the Gemmill Engineering Library and launch the Herbst Program of Humanities, a hallmark CU program that exposes engineering students to literature, art and history.

In a midnight epiphany, Clough crafted a memo proposing the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, an answer to the college鈥檚 need for additional research labs and innovative, hands-on facilities. Through the hard work of numerous collaborators, the ITLL opened in 1997 based on Clough鈥檚 groundwork.

He returned to the department in 1992, serving as associate chair for a decade and a stint as interim chair. More recently, through a partnership with a former colleague, he even put his stamp on a new engineering program at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani.

A Division III athlete in college, Clough began meeting informally with recruits when they visited campus and was tapped for several athletics committees. In 2005, Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano asked Clough to serve as the faculty athletics representative, a liaison between the campus and the Pac-12 and NCAA.

He now knows personally every member of CU鈥檚 17 teams, advocating for student-athletes鈥� well-being and maintaining academic integrity and institutional control. He travels with most teams at least once a year and tweets from the handle .

Clough鈥檚 encyclopedic memory allows him to keep track of students鈥� whereabouts鈥攁nd continue to mentor them鈥攍ong after graduation.

鈥淒ave stayed connected to everybody he met as students, beyond the academic experience into their lives, into their professional adventures,鈥� says alumnus Mike Masterson (MS ChemEngr鈥�77). 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a stretch to say that his career is littered with those examples.鈥�

In his four decades, Clough developed a simple philosophy on educating students: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not how much of an expert you are or how good you are at explaining things or how easy a grader you are, but if you give the idea that you really care about them鈥攖hat鈥檚 it right there in a nugget.鈥�