She’s
been at CBU for 25 years and Dr. Marguerite Cooper still says, “I
love teaching here.”
BY LISA BELL
When I entered
Dr. Marguerite Cooper’s office, I noticed the collection of white
lab coats hanging on the back of her door. For professional and safety
reasons (not to mention keeping your clothes clean in case experiments
go awry), School of Science faculty wear standard-issue white coats while
guiding the efforts of budding scientists, doctors, medical professionals,
and yes, even lawyers and businessmen.
However, Cooper’s coats were different. On the back of her coats
were the words, “Mom.” And, upon closer inspection, the wording
on these coats ranged from an iron on transfer to silk screening to elaborate
embroidery.
So who is Dr. Mom?
Dr. Cooper claims she has lived five lives: as a child growing up in Burke
County, NC; as a undergraduate student at the Women’s College of
the University of North Carolina; as a wife and mother; as a graduate
student at Memphis State University; and now as associate professor of
chemistry at CBU. She’s enjoyed a full and happy life and gladly
shares her zest for living with family, friends, and students.
While some start thinking about retirement at age 55, Cooper became the
first female candidate to be accepted into the doctoral program in chemistry
at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis). Not easily discouraged,
it had taken Cooper 12 years to get there because she had to take extra
subjects, including German (since, at the time, much of the chemistry
curriculum was written in German). Also, an early morning explosion in
the MSU chemistry lab destroyed a year’s worth of Cooper’s doctoral
work housed in the lab’s freezer. While teaching part-time at both
Memphis State and Southwestern (now Rhodes) College, Cooper, at 57, became
the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry at MSU, in 1977.
Cooper joined CBU’s School of Science staff that year and has since
taught chemistry to hundreds of students. Like many faculty members, she
has stories about students whose early efforts in the sciences were memorable,
such as the time Dexter Williams (’80) spilled fluids on his clothes
one winter night while working on Organic Chemistry homework. Williams
wouldn’t tell Cooper what he had spilled, so she made him get into
the only shower in the Science building and remain there until the water
thoroughly flushed his clothes—and drenched both of them. When she
was satisfied that Williams was out of danger, Cooper gave him a blanket
and sent him to his dorm. Later they laughed and told everyone that Williams
was conducting special research for theExxon Valdez clean-up. (Coincidentally,
Williams now works as a research scientist for Texaco.)
That incident was only one of many student challenges that Cooper would
face while teaching at CBU. In addition to her teaching duties, She was
the School of Science’s “ombudsman,” a student counselor.
In that role, students could confidentially talk to her about anything,
not just academic problems. Cooper upheld her end of the bargain, never
divulging student problems, but admits that being the school “Mom”
was draining.
The role suited Cooper, who genuinely cared about her students and wanted
to them to succeed in school and in life. It was also during those years
that her own children would regularly visit her during the afternoons,
armed with their own questions and problems that only a mom could solve.
However,
it was the students in her first Organic Chemistry class who officially
coined the term “Dr. Mom”, and presented Cooper with her first
lab coat, its iron-on transfer reflecting more affection than cash. The
students in that class were very close and have continued to stay in touch
with each other and with Cooper. Cooper proudly wore her lab coat until
it was threadbare and casually mentioned to one of the ’77 students
that it was time to retire it.
A couple of weeks later, a new lab coat. with “Mom” silk-screened
on the back. appeared in her office. Since then, Cooper has received a
new lab coat every couple of years, each one a little nicer than the last,
paid for anonymously by one of the students from that 1977 class.
Dr. James “Bo” Adams (’80), a very busy critical care physician
at Baptist Memorial Hospital in East Memphis (his beeper went off four
times during our brief conversation), was in that first Organic Chemistry
class (1977) taught by Dr. Cooper. “We were expecting Dr. Wescott
to teach our class, but he took a sabbatical that semester and Dr. Cooper
got his class,” he remembers. “The students were relieved because
Dr. Wescott was known to be pretty hard and we f igured that the new,
older professor would be easy. However, we found out that Dr. Cooper was
no pushover!
“Organic Chemistry was a hard class that separated the real chemistry
students from the fake, and weeded out a few who dreamed of medical careers,”
Adams explains. “And Organic Lab was just awful! I remember during
my first lab that I dropped my beaker as I was taking it to Dr. Cooper
to grade. She knew I had done the work, but gave me a lousy grade anyway.
She was a tough grader.”
Adams laughs when I tell him that Dr. Cooper has closely followed his
career and now considers “Bobo” to be one of her best students.
Another student/fan of Dr. Cooper is Dr. Susan Appling (Natural Science,’86),
a Physical Therapist for the University of Tennessee, and a member of
CBU’s Biology Advisory Committee. Appling echoes Adams’ enthusiasm
and love for “Mom” and recalls how much fun and what a “pistol”
Cooper was during labs. Appling credits Dr. Cooper with helping her get
the classes and experience needed to become a physical therapist.
“In my freshman year, I knew that I wanted to be a PT, because I
had just gone through knee surgery and therapy,” Appling recalls.
“After discussing my plans with Dr. Cooper, we began exploring majors
and decided that a Natural Science major would allow me to take the classes
I needed for the PT profession.” Dr. Cooper also introduced Appling
to her daughter, Susan, who was a physical therapist and loaned her some
equipment for her senior research project.
“Dr. Cooper and Brother Dominic Dunn were two CBU professors who
really cared about their students,” Appling adds. “She would
do whatever it took to help us—connecting us with medical professionals
in the community and even arranging for students to do research at the
University of Tennessee medical library, which was an ominous place located
in a basement with anatomy classes.
“Whatever we needed, Dr. Cooper always helped us and found an answer.
It was amazing how resourceful she was, considering that this was before
the Internet and before some of the health resources we now have became
available.”
The Dr. Marguerite Cooper Distinguished Chair was funded in 1988 by daughter
Susan and son-in-law Robert Wilson, in the amount of $1 million. At the
same time, the Dr. Marguerite Cooper Distinguished Professor Award was
established—with a cash gift of $7,500—to be given to a full-time
CBU School of Science professor who exemplifies excellence in teaching;
service to the faculty, staff, and students; professional growth and development;
and scholarly research. To date, the award has been presented to Dr. Johnny
Holmes, Dr. Michael Condren, Dr. Anna Ross, Brother Joel Baumeyer, Cathy
Carter, Dr. Mary Ogilvie, Dr. John Varriano (twice), Dr. Arhur Yanushka,
Brother Edward Salgado, Dr. Pascal Bedrossian, and Dr. Malinda Fitzgerald.
As she reminisces, Cooper mentions several times how much she loves CBU,
her students, and the Brothers. “The CBU community is special,”
she says. “The Brothers, faculty, and staff do care about the students
and will do anything to help them succeed in the classroom and in their
personal lives. I love teaching here and have no plans to retire just
yet.
“However, I do have a dream—that I would have a class where
everyone makes an A!” Grinning mischievously, she adds, “I guess
hope does spring eternal.”
As for current CBU students, they hope “Dr. Mom” will continue
teaching chemistry and will help them chart their career paths. Rumor
has it that her classes and labs are still hard, but fun. But, more importantly,
Dr. Mom cares about her students, and is always available to help them
solve their problems.