Messages for Dr. Paul Gowen
on his retirement from Hood College

Hi Paul! I didn't know you were retiring this year! I "retired" from Hood a bit earlier this year, so I am not as connected as I once was. Have a great time! I hope you are enjoying yourself whatever you're doing now!

Dr. Gowen-
As I read the notes from my classmates, you made quite an impression on the math majors in the class of '79! Looking back, my most obtuse math course with you was Modeling and Simulation---but I got it, THANKS. Best wishes for the retirement you are looking for...(if I was an English major I would not have left that line end in a preposition).

Debbie (Mooney) Bennett

No, we haven't forgotten about the original curriculum - http://cs.hood.edu/gowen/FrederickUniv.pdf

I enjoyed cs 284. I know I didn't make it to class much but the assignments were alot of fun and so was talking to you. I wish you a quietrelaxing life in the south.

Paul,
Very best wishes to you! You will be missed.

The retired faculty members I know are always busy and smiling! They are more active than ever and enjoying every moment of their retirement. You join a distinguished group!!!

Good health! Good luck! Enjoy!!!
Sincerely,
Bonnie Hagerman

Congrats for moving on to the 'easy' life in AL!!! Tonights seminar was fascinating!! Thank you!! Hopefully the seminar has sparked the dept. to implement internet forensics into the Hood Computer Science Dept. soon. Enjoy AL!!

Dr. Gowen,

I had some great fun in your classes - thanks for Lagrange interpolation, cubic splines, random variables, the Poisson distribution, linked lists, objects of type Object, the superiority of C++ over JAVA, the Polynomial class, and elegant code. And might I add that your lecture notes were some of the most thorough and detailed that I have ever come across as an undergraduate or a graduate.

Thank you for being a great mentor and teacher, and for encouraging us all to see the beauty of mathematics.

May you have a happy, restful, and peaceful retirement, free of those "damn blue lights". Yes, your classes will always fondly remember your ongoing battle with the wiles of technology. Hood CS won't be the same without you, and the Math department is certain to miss your popping by for cookies-to-go!

Best Wishes,

Nathan D. Edington '04

PS - Don't throw away all of your math books - without good math problems, you'll piddle away your retirement listening to rap music!

Dear Dr. G - I have in front of me one of my most treasured possessions - a battered, nearly 35 year old themebook of notes from Mathematics 352 - Statistics - taught by Paul Gowen. I've used it as my statistics bible over the years....although at this point I look at it in awe and amazement that I once understood all the material it contains. In a previous e-mail (probably 5 years ago now) I thanked you and Dr. C (as I always think of both of you by your initials) for teaching me how to think...so I won't rehash that now. Instead, I'd like to thank you for always being aware when I didn't understand some fine point of your teaching and making the effort to see that I finally "got it." It's a habit I picked up from you and it stands me in good stead with all the change management and project management I've done over the years. I also thank you for my adult handwriting, which after years of copying your notes from the board came to look curiously like yours...especially the f's and x's. (Every team I've facilitated compliments my handwriting!) I wish you all the best as you embark on the next phase of your life...as you have wished the same for your many grateful students.

With great fondness....Judy Howe '76

PS If you have any ungraded papers from my time at Hood you can feel free to toss them now.

PPS If you want to know what I'm doing now check out my website with the unweildy long name: www.brandywineseniortransitions.com. It's not my first career and probably won't be my last.

Dr Gowen, How time flies….

I have very fond memories of discussing my program of study with you while a Mathematics Major who returned to college as an adult from 1994 to 1998. Your third floor Rosenstock office will live in my mind forever. Stacks of paper and books rising to the ceiling, and no matter the subject of my inquiry, you always knew just the right stack, the right height, and you would reach in and pull out just what was needed. It amazes me to this day.

The foundation of knowledge that I gained from you and your peers in the math and computer science department has led me down a great path. I apply the analytical skills Hood College instilled in me every day. While I majored in Mathematics, my course work in Computer Science was just enough to get me in the door at EDS where I continued to train to be a proficient Mainframe Developer. I am now with IBM, and in more of a management role overseeing the training of a global account with developers in both the US and in India. So in many ways, the trainee has become the trainer, and it all began in your office one hot afternoon when I first laid out my plans and you first reached into a stack of papers to find the answer.

Thanks, and all the best to you and yours,

Brooks K Williston.

Dear Dr Gowen,
I cannot begin to thank you enough for all the wonderful ways that your teaching and friendship have influenced and shaped my life. You began by providing the fundamentals of mathematics to a Chemistry major and then inspired me to become a double major in Chemistry and Math. My strong backround in mathematics has served me well starting in graduate scool where 2/3 of my thesis was a complex model of nuclear fusion-fission reactions (which I did all the programing for!)to today as I teach quantum mechanics and pass on the joy and beauty of mathematics that you taught me to my students. Most importantly you were and are one of my most important role models for how to be an excellent teacher. When I began to express an interest in college teaching in my senior year you gave me the opportunity to do some lectures while you were away at a conference and to be a TA for you introductory computer science course. Both experinces helped me to realize that becoming a professor was most definately what I wanted to do. Thank for being brave enough to put your students in my inexperienced hands! Finally you were always totally supportive something I strive to be to all my students. Thank you so very much for being my mentor and role model. I wish you the very best as you retire.
Fondly,
Laura '76

Paul, what I want to know is this: Who's gonna clean out your office?!!

Take care, and may you have a wonderful next stage of your life. No more worrying about semicolons or parentheses!

Thanks for your mentoring in my past... especially through the Galois theory. Ah, those were the days.

xoxo
Annie

Paul,

Thanks for all the help and conversations over the years!

YAY! Good Luck

YAY! Good Luck

Dr. Cowan -

It doesn't seem possible that you are old enough to retire but then I graduated from Hood in 1978 which is now a long time ago! I hope that you have wonderful plans for your retirement and will remain active, healthy for many years to come!
Debi Meeker

Dr. Gowen, You were the hippest math teacher ever! Almost hip enough to make me major in math, because you actually made calculus a heck of lot of fun and mostly doable. Did you know another Hood fan and I slid a Snickers bar under your office door?

Wishing you the very best,
your former calculus student in the Class of 1979

Dear Dr. Gowen,
Congratulations on your retirement! I, too, was one of the 6 Math majors from 1979 and you were also my advisor. In November, I will be celebrating my 25th anniversary as an analytical scientist at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. My career combines both math and chemistry on a daily basis as we explore the use of mass spectrometry for metabonomics. Thank you for your encouragement while I was attending Hood.
Enjoy your retirement, Bethanne Warrack

Dear Dr. Gowan,

Congratualtions!

I was one of 6 Math majors from the Class of 1979 and you were my advisor. I entered Hood a very shy, scared young woman and you provided much needed guidance and encouragement throughout my four years. I do not think I would have kept on track as a Math major had you not made me feel that I had the capability to suceed. I wish I could be at the reception to honor your years at Hood. You will be happy to learn that I have used my Math degree and computer skills throughout years of volunteer work and my current job with Northop Grumman where the analytical skills obtained through your coursework have proved invaluable. Enjoy Retirement! Gini(Allen)King

Dr Gowen,

Congratulations on your retirement!! I know that you've been looking forward to this for a long time. You've worn many hats over the years at Hood - math department, computer science, administrator, etc. Now you can specialize in retirement just as soon as you clear out your office. And remember, if you find any papers of mine, the time limit has expired! Fondly, Pat

Dr. Gowen,

Congratulations! There are many memories I could share, but the one that stands out is your mantra of "elegance" in code while I was a student. I've passed that along to the (relative) youngsters that I mentor now. Good luck, and have fun! dwhite '87

Best of luck to you, Professor Gowen! I had the privilege of starting off my very first class in the CS department with you learning how to program in C++ using box cars, tank cars, and other trains back in 1999... Enjoy your retirement!

w00t!!!
Goodness, it's been a long time. (My turn next.)