In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

14 The Professor I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD WORK IN THE WORLD of academia.There was nothing in my background to suggest such a possibility. I did not have a PhD, and I had never taught. Nevertheless , in May 1979, I became a full-time faculty member of the prestigious medical school at the University of Washington (UW). For about a year,Mike Clowers,associate professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine,had been talking to me about possible employment at the university. Mike had built an impressive program of research and demonstrations, concentrating on the vocational aspects of rehabilitating disabled individuals. He was young,bright,ambitious,and likable.We developed a mutually bene ficial working relationship and soon became friends and colleagues. According to Mike, his workload was getting unwieldy. He wanted to spin off some of the work to a person with administrative experience in employing and training disabled persons. At first, I dismissed the idea, pointing to my lack of academic qualifications and experience. I also mentioned that, even if I had the requisite experience , I doubted that the university would be able to come close to my salary.However,when Mike reported that Dr.Justus Lehmann, the chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, wanted to talk to me about a possible position, I decided to explore the situation further. Dr. Lehmann, a brilliant physiatrist (a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation) with an international reputation ,headed one of the foremost physical rehabilitation programs in the country.He had been a strong supporter throughout my years at the Division ofVocational Rehabilitation and was among the first to call on me to pay his respects when I was appointed director. He saw to it that I met important physicians in the field of physical rehabilitation. He stood by me during the dark days of the Educational Consultants contract controversy. Our relationship was reciprocal. As director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, I wrote letters of endorsement for a number of grant proposals he submitted to the federal government. I also sought his counsel on controversial issues.A no-nonsense administrator,Dr.Lehmann had a reputation of being difficult to deal with.However,this was never the case with me. We worked well together. Dr. Lehmann had given serious thought to the possibility of my joining the UW medical school’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine . It was not only because of Mike’s heavy workload. Speaking with the accent of his native Germany,Dr.Lehmann said he wanted me on his staff because of my record of accomplishment in obtaining funding. He could see that the recent cuts in research funding enacted by the administration of President Ronald Reagan would eventually have an adverse effect on his programs. He knew about my effectiveness in working with federal, state, and local governments and believed that placing me on his staff might minimize future cutbacks in funding. Regarding Mike’s workload,Dr.Lehmann was confident that we could work out a logical division of labor. He was equally confident that my lack of teaching experience would not pose a problem. Dr. Lehmann planned that I would teach no more than one course a year and serve as guest lecturer in other classes. He felt that my work as state director could be transferred directly to teaching. As for my lack of a PhD, the only consequence was that it would limit my initial faculty appointment to the lowest level, that of instructor . But Dr. Lehmann was confident and optimistic. He believed I would encounter no difficulty in being promoted to assistant professor after serving the mandatory one year as an instructor. Finally, he said, “I would be willing to offer you a salary compara222 the activist executive, 1970–1995 ble to what you are making with DVR.” I could not believe what I had just heard. My DVR salary far exceeded the salaries of most other faculty members in the department. I was flattered. I was also inclined to accept his offer for other reasons. At this point in my career, I was confident of my abilities. I had already learned that my management skills were transferable within a variety of work settings, and a university setting should not be much different. After discussing Dr. Lehmann’s offer with Terri, it did not take long for me to decide to accept it.Working at the University of Washington would mean the end...

Share