The small classroom environment is appealing since you get to know the students in the class much better than in the large classrooms at many universities.
Dale Smith moved his family back to Massachusetts after spending several years out of state while completing his University of Connecticut graduate degree. He and his wife had relatives in Massachusetts and wanted their young son to grow up knowing them.
When it came time to get a job, he found one at the same place he obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics in 2011.
Some pretty significant factors led him back to Bridgewater State University to teach, said Professor Smith, who spent the spring semester at BSU as a temporary, full-time
faculty member.
“The small classroom environment is appealing since you get to know the students in the class much better than in the large classrooms at many universities,” he said. “Also, the faculty in the BSU physics department are great.”
A Brockton native, Professor Smith served for more than seven years in the Air Force. That probably gave him some handy experience with physics. But it’s clear he had much to offer his old department, and when longtime BSU faculty members were looking for a new colleague, they knew where to turn.
“Dr. Edward Deveney has helped me with just about everything,” Professor Smith said. “Dr. Thomas Kling and Dr. Martina Arndt also had a large part in bringing me back to BSU.”
As for his first time leading a BSU classroom? “It was exciting,” he said. “I love physics and know the students here are good, so I was looking forward to a great semester, and it was.”