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'A lifetime is a lifetime no matter if it is 10 years or 100
years. What a person needs to do is have his lifetime count.'
- Ray Kaiser as quoted by Dr. Malcolm Amerson
Former Oglethorpe University Math Professor Ray Kaiser passed
away on April 25, 2002 from a genetic condition affecting his
liver.
Raymond Joseph "Ray" Kaiser, Jr. was born in Milwaukee, WI, and
raised in St. Paul, MN. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science
in Mathematics from University of Notre Dame, and earned his
Master’s of Science and Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He
taught every math course in the curriculum at Oglethorpe at
various times between 1986 and 1998. His colleagues described his
office as a "conveyor belt" of students.
(courtesy of OU Public
Relations office)
Memories of Ray Kaiser
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"I must say that I am deeply saddened to learn that Ray Kaiser
has passed away. I graduated from Oglethorpe in 1993 with a degree
and mathematics and Dr. Kaiser was a good friend, a great career
advisor, and a tremendous educator. We corresponded by email after
I graduated, and I would always try to visit whenever I was in
Atlanta.
I remember my first math class at OU was Calculus II with Dr.
Kaiser. It was a definite learning experience. I came in with a
"hot-shot" attitude, thinking I was really a mathematics machine.
After making a B on Dr. Kaiser's first test, I felt like "Welcome
to college, Mr. Sheats". It appears as if you will be studying for
math classes after all. The test was fair, I simply did not
prepare well.
Ray Kaiser was more than fair, he was an exceptional person.
Always quick with a smile or a joke, he brought not only knowledge
to his students, but a sense of belonging and confidence. I remember wondering what I would do with a degree in
mathematics. With his actuarial background, Ray thoroughly
explained the field to me one afternoon. After deciding it might not be right for me, I
decided to go into software development, and Ray told me that he had a friend
that worked for the government that I might be interested in
meeting. That was the kind of person Ray was. He was always trying to
help. May God bless Oglethorpe with more professors like Dr.
Raymond Kaiser. The faculty position may have been filled at
Oglethorpe, but no one could ever replace him in our hearts.
May God bless and comfort those who knew him, loved him, and
now miss him."
- Jason Sheats, '93
"I had Dr. Kaiser for most of my math courses between 1994 and
1997. I was a dual-degree engineering student and very anxious
about suceeding so that I would be prepared for my transfer to
Georgia Tech. I performed horribly on a calculus test my
freshman year - I knew my stuff but had an anxiety attack and
couldn't remember anything. Dr. Kaiser told me that he had
faith in me and even offered to let me take future exams in a
separate room from the rest of the class to help alleviate my
anxiety.
Three years later, as I prepared to transfer to GT, I again
"freaked out", claiming that I would probably fail out of Tech
and would never be an engineer. Dr. Kaiser looked at me as if
he couldn't believe what I was saying - he told me I was very
intelligent and would do great - I just had to have a little
confidence.
After finishing my first quarter at Tech, I achieved a 4.0. I
remember coming to visit Dr. Kaiser, very excited at my
achievement. He said he knew I could do it all along and wasn't
surprised a bit. In fact, I got a 4.0 average 7 out of my 8
undergraduate quarters at Tech. During subsequent visits, Dr.
Kaiser reminded me "see, you just needed to have confidence in
yourself".
He was one of the first people that made me believe that I could
actually achieve my dreams. Thank you Dr. Kaiser!!"
-
Kristine Lawrie, '99
"Ray related to many students in ways that they really appreciated
and he encouraged them to pursue their interests in mathematics.
He was especially thoughtful in working with academic advisees.
Even after he took a medical leave of absence, he returned for
commencement several times to congratulate his former advisees on
their graduation. I recall one incident where an international
student from Japan came to his office at the end of the spring
semester with a very nice doll dressed in a gorgeous kimono in a
display case that she wanted to give Ray as a gift. He was so
humble and flattered that I heard him say 'Are you SURE that you
want to give this to ME?'" -Daniel Schadler,
professor of biology
"Simply put, Ray Kaiser was one of the finest professors with whom
a student could hope to study. He was kind, engaging, and deeply
concerned with the success of his students. When I was a student
at Oglethorpe, I was an English major, and what some might call
'math-impaired.' Ray worked with me to overcome my solicitude, and
made me believe that I could conquer math problems as easily as I
could contemplate the writings of Jane Austen. Ray’s
encouragement stretched beyond the classroom, and when I decided
to continue my studies in graduate school, he did everything he
could to support me. Ray’s interest even extended beyond
graduation; he was a regular email correspondent. When I completed
my M.A., Ray was one of the first people to send congratulations,
and he was thrilled to know that I had been accepted into a
doctoral program. Oglethorpe was fortunate to have such a
wonderful faculty member—one who will be remembered fondly by
hosts of alumni." -Karen Head, ’98
"Our offices were across the hall from each other in Goslin and we
were inseparable. In fact, I was one of the only people that knew
about his anonymous correspondence with the rest of the faculty.
He called himself 'Sgt. Pepper' because he loved The Beatles. He
was a rascal and a quick wit, but very much an intellect at the
same time."
-Malcolm Amerson, James Edward Oglethorpe
Professor of Biology
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