USD Magazine, Summer-Fall 1993

ROSS DINGMAN Professor of Biology Years at USD: 26

had our own parking spaces with our names on them. That was a long time ago, when the school wasn't very big and everyone knew each other." Although the growth of the school meant the loss of a per– sonalized parking space, it did mean the growth of the biology department into one of the strongest on campus, a fact of which Dingman is extremely proud. "Our students, for the most part, go on to medical school or to earn their doctorates. They work at places like the Mon– terey Aquarium, Virginia Marine Institute and the University of Rhode Island. And one of my former students is my den– tist!" Dingman's personal interest in his students started the day they entered his classroom. "I care about my students as peo– ple, not just as students," he explains. Dingman's office was equipped with a beanbag chair and "plenty of boxes of tissues," for the countless students who came for advice on everything from dating problems to health issues. One of Dingman's favorite activities as a professor (and the times he learned the most about his students) were class field trips. "I enjoyed those immensely," he says wistfully. "Out in the field, the biology really came alive for the stu– dents. It's one thing to read about plants and animals. It's another thing entirely to observe them in their natural habi– tat." Biology lessons weren't the only things dispensed on those field trips. "Sitting around a campfire, I would learn more about my students than I did during hours in class." Dingman's obvious concern and care did not go unnoticed. Former student Peter August '74, M.D., flew in from Rhode Island to attend Dingman's retirement ceremonies, and numer– ous alumni living in the area attended the professor's last class– room lecture and daylong retirement party. In addition, a group of alumni worked together to create the "Dr. Ross Dingman Research Stipend" in the biology department. Along with donations, former students have sent letters of appreciation and thanks to their teacher. One former student, Michael J. Howard '86, thanked the professor for doing nothing less than changing his life. " ...My experience with you changed me," Howard wrote. "I saw a man who loved nature for the sake of loving something greater than anything humankind could ever aspire to recreate or change to suit its purpose, and you loved the people who stud– ied it. You seemed to recognize something in me that I was not fully aware of, and you fanned its small flames into a forest fire which continues to sweep through my life and my work today."

Ross Dingman is talking on the phone from his new home in Ruidoso, N.M., when he suddenly stops and exclaims, "Listen! Can you hear that?" What Dingman hears is rain-lots of it-falling on the roof and windows of his cabin. "Can you believe this? " he asks with an almost-childlike excitement. "It's raining in the middle of the day!" Afternoon showers are just one aspect of life in New Mexi– co that the biology professor anticipates in retirement. A native Californian, Dingman says when he arrived at his new home, he couldn't believe "how many different shades of green there are in nature." Adjusting to life in a small town and settling into his cabin have kept Dingman and his wife of 44 years, Ginny, busy dur– ing the summer-but not so busy that he doesn't think about USD. "I honestly can't think of much else I would have rather done over the past 26 years. The friends I've made, my col– leagues and students-they were all hard to leave," he says. What wasn't was so hard to leave was San Diego. "The city has really grown so much, and housing is so expensive. It's sad, but we didn't want to spend our retirement years in such a crowded place." But never fear, Dingman laughs-he will visit. "I still have children and grandchildren in the area, and when I'm back, I'll definitely come by USD." Pausing a moment, he laughs, "Now that I'm a professor emeritus, that means I'll always have free parking." Parking in the early days at Alcala Park is a fond memory for Dingman. "I know this will be hard to believe, but we all

::l..2 i uso

MAGAZINE