{"id":8493,"date":"2018-06-14T11:55:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-14T16:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=8493"},"modified":"2018-09-30T14:47:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-30T19:47:08","slug":"mary-ellen-finch-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/mary-ellen-finch-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Ellen Finch: A Legend Retires"},"content":{"rendered":"
Famously and gratefully looked upon as a retirement boomerang of sorts, Mary Ellen Finch has tried to retire three times over the past four decades but always found herself back in an academic role on account of her extraordinary leadership. She retired at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, and she’s determined to make this one stick.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s well-deserved and not unexpected\u2014but still.<\/p>\n
She has touched the lives of thousands of students and helped prepare countless teachers to lead their own classrooms. Since arriving at Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPPin 1974 as chair of teacher\u00a0education, Mary Ellen has served as dean of the School of\u00a0Education, director of graduate studies, interim dean of the School of Health Professions (now the Walker College of Health Professions) and interim director of the physical therapy program.<\/p>\n
\u201cCall me Mary Ellen,\u201d she says on first introductions, dismissing formalities. She is also known fondly as MEF, as the heartfelt tributes attest.<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s serious about the business of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything more important in the world than being a teacher. Because you\u2019ve got the future in your hands,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re teaching, it\u2019s the next generation and the next generation\u2014it\u2019s an old saw, but it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
I will always remember when she yelled at me to call her MARY ELLEN\u2014not Dr. Finch! She has never been about titles, but about personal relationships. ~\u00a0Kelly Mock, EdD,\u00a0Director, Academic Success and Life Coaching<\/p><\/blockquote>\n