Lincoln Hall Project
An Active ’60s Student
By Kenneth L. Modesitt, BS ’63, mathematics
I recently finished reading the latest issue of LAS News (Summer, 2012), and was delighted, as always! I graduated with a BS in mathematics from the University in February 1963, and it has been my most favorite collegiate experience, even with graduate degrees from Stanford and Carnegie-Mellon. Truth be told, however, my most enjoyable time was in Concert Choir from 1959-63, under the direction of Dr. Harold Decker!! This was virtually the only place I had a change to meet females, during two year in engineering physics and one and a half-years in mathematics (mostly Altgeld Hall). This was also where I have sent the majority of my donations!
Your article entitled “Illinois at the Crossroads” covering the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s rang many bells for me. Here are some of the sub-items and my responses:
Rapidly Building a New Future
- I watched the Assembly Hall being constructed from my room at 411 Hopkins Hall in MRH and was among the very first class of graduates from it in 1963. It still is a magnificent piece of architecture.
- Krannert Center was a favorite place to visit, filled with many contemporary works.
Bursting Enrollment
- My father purchased a little tray for me that carries the headline from the Champaign-Urbana Courier on February 1962 that read “140,000 by 1980 in Twin Cities.” The subtitle was “45,000 U. of I. Enrollment Predicted.” How close was that??? The photo for this section of the magazine was of President David Dodds Henry, who served during my time from 1959-63. His quote that a university is measure NOT by faculty, or buildings, or administrators, but by ALUMNI has long been my favorite, and has appeared in many journal and conference articles I have authored.
An End to Military Service
- My first class on several days of the week during my first two years was Army ROTC in the Fieldhouse. I know that many students must have struggled with that, but it was never an issue for me. The captain of our company was Mark Marlin, who lived just down the hall from me in Hopkins. I actually enjoyed polishing my shoes and brass! The regimen was good for this new person in college. The discipline was a valuable addition to me and to many others. My roommate did all four years in naval ROTC and never regretted it.
Other Memories
- I worked a sound engineer for WPGU in the huts near to the dorms, and really enjoyed that during my freshman year.
- It was great to be able to choose classical music records for “Music Hours” at Student Union Wedgewood Lounge a couple of days a week.
- My roommate and I had no problem going to the Computing lab (CERL) at 2 a.m. in the winter mornings of 1962 to run our computer programs on Illiac I, with paper tape input and output! Upstairs was Don Bitzer, working on the first iterations of the computer-based learning systems Plato. Twenty years later, I was the program manager at Texas Instruments and got Plato running on a TI 99/4A microcomputer for worldwide distribution! I made several professional visits to PLATO experts at the campus from 1982-84, esp. Bill Golden. I took all the computing classes offered by the math and electrical engineering departments, as there was no computer science degree then. I went on to obtain my PhD in CS in 1972, as one of the “oldest” holders at the time. It has been good!
- The auditorium, now Follinger, was where I first heard how majestic a world-class orchestra (Leningrad) sounded—and I had a change to practice my Russian—AND German! Hal Holbrook and Pablo Casals were also vital contributors. Candidate John Kennedy made an unforgettable appearance outside in 1963.
- I saw the first American in space, Alan Shepherd, on television in the lobby of the YMCA in February of 1962.
- Dick Butkus was a classmate in my Physiology class!
- The opportunity to be in the first class of James Scholars in 1959 was an amazing chance to have first-class faculty, and not GTAs. My professor in Rhetoric 101, held in Lincoln Hall (another article in the LAS News) was simply incredible!
- My wife and family have returned to campus for several football games and always stopped at the YMCA.
In summary, I am VERY proud to be a graduate of the University of Illinois, and I hope that many thousands will continue to have such pride!
The views expressed in Storyography are not necessarily those of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or the University of Illinois.