January 11-12, 2006

ITEM 130-1501-R0106   Authorization to Confer the Title of Professor Emeritus of General Engineering Upon John F. McGuire; Montana Tech of The University of Montana

THAT: Upon the occasion of the retirement of Professor John McGuire from the faculty of Montana Tech of The University of Montana, the faculty wishes to express its appreciation for his years of dedicated and valued service to the College, the Department of General Engineering, and the State of Montana by recommending that the rank of Professor Emeritus be conferred upon him by the Board of Regents of the Montana University System.

EXPLANATION: Employers of Tech's engineering students expect their new employees to be able to communicate verbally and by the written word. Students who pass Dr. McGuire's technical writing and seminar courses definitely satisfy this requirement. Dr. McGuire has taught technical writing for the college of engineering for years. During this time, he consistently maintained a rigorous and effective teaching method. This has been made apparent by the comments heard from employers in regard to the outstanding writing skills of Tech's engineering students. This is a substantial accomplishment, especially considering that Dr. McGuire's class is the only required class in which students learn the fundamentals of preparing a technical paper. Furthermore, surveys of graduates of the General Engineering department frequently comment on the invaluable lessons learned from Dr. McGuire

Jack earned degrees in English; B.A. in 1964 from Carroll College; M.A from the University of the Pacific in 1966 and Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1970. In 1970, he joined the faculty at Montana Tech. He is an active member of the Northwest Mining Association, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Montana Academy of Sciences and the Montana Mining Association.

Jack McGuire's career includes many citations and awards. He submitted the outstanding paper for the 1992 ASEE conference. He received the Burlington Resources outstanding teacher award in 1986 and has been recognized by some of our students' employers as an outstanding instructor.

Upon the untimely death of Professor Terry McGlynn, Dr. McGuire assisted in the completion of McGlynn's book "Montana Tech 1893 - 1984."

It is of immense credit to Dr. McGuire that Montana Tech alumni frequently comment on the importance of his rigorous presentation of technical writing. He has the respect and admiration of his fellow faculty in the General Engineering Department, as well as across the Montana Tech campus.