125 years at Rider between them, 3 CLAS professors to retire

Three faculty members from Rider University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will retire after the spring 2017 semester: Dr. George Ritchie of the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics; Dr. Thomas Callahan Jr. of the Department of History; and Dr. Thomas Simonet of the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Media.

The three professors have a cumulative 125 years at Rider between them. They recently were honored at the spring LAS college assembly where they were joined by previous faculty retirees. “I cannot think of a more deserving group of faculty to celebrate for this inaugural event,” says Jonathan Millen, dean of the College. “All three will be missed.”

Dr. George Ritchie Jr. joined Rider as an assistant professor of physics in September 1982. Ritchie was promoted to associate professor in 1986 and then promoted to professor in 1994. With interests in optics and laser spectroscopy, Ritchie is currently developing spectroscopic instrumentation for detecting radioactive isotopes using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. 

Ritchie was a recipient of grants from Research Corporation, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the New Jersey Department of Higher Education, and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. He is also a member of American Physical Society, optical Society of America, Society for Applied Spectroscopy and Phi Beta Kappa. 
 Dr. Thomas Callahan of the history department came to Rider in 1971 after receiving a bachelor's from SUNY-Albany and a master's and doctorate from the University of Connecticut.  

"There were a number of us in what we called The Class of '71, including Bart Luedeke, Joe Nadeau, Rick Turner, Frank Kierman, Mike Epstein and Joe Gowaskie," says Callahan. "I'm the last one still here."  
 Over the past 46 years, Callahan has taught British and medieval Europe courses, and both world history and Irish history. The author of a number of articles on English and Irish history, Callahan also wrote the book I’m Sending a Shamrock to Remind You of Home: Roscommon Families and the Irish Diaspora 1860-1950, which was published in Dublin in 2013. 
 Callahan participated in the Baccalaureate Honors Program and has been a member of Liberal Arts and Sciences Committee on Academic Policy, the College Academic Policy Committee, and Promotion and Tenure. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the American Conference  For Irish Studies and the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland. He also served in a number of positions in the AAUP, including president in 1991-2.   Dr. Thomas Simonet, who began at Rider in 1973, received a bachelor's from Georgetown, master's from Columbia and doctorate from Temple. A professor of journalism who made many notable contributions during his time at Rider, Simonet arrived right after the department received its first keyboards, which were hand-me-down manual typewriters from the Trenton Times. 

Simonet helped upgrade to IBM Selectrics, then PCs and eventually to Macs in three labs with the latest media software. He also started Rider's first TV studio and put together a photographic darkroom before Photoshop was introduced. 

Simonet kept students engaged with out-of-the-classroom learning experiences including study trips abroad and the recent statehouse reporting project. He also held leadership roles with the Minorities Journalism Workshop, the Shadow yearbook and The Rider News, the University's student newspaper. Each of those roles lasted about 16 years. "Sweet sixteen," Simonet says. 

"It's been a great ride with fantastic students," he adds. "Especially gratifying have been the support and mutual respect I have observed and enjoyed all over both campuses with all levels of people. And never a boring day. I'm very appreciative."