Stephen F. Austin State University

Dr. Allen Richman will retire from Stephen F. Austin State University in August after 43 years of teaching history and more than a decade of service as director of the university’s School of Honors. This is pretty ironic, considering Richman never actually applied to teach at SFA.

“In 1965, I was just finishing coursework at the University of Minnesota for my Ph.D.,” Richman explained. “I had grown up in northern New Jersey, and received a scholarship to attend the Rice Institute, which is now Rice University.”

Richman’s fellow students at Rice included Carol Davis and Archie McDonald, both of whom would go on to join the history faculty at SFA.

“I had kept in touch with them after I left Rice and while I was doing graduate work at Penn State and the University of Minnesota. I got a call one day from C. K. Chamberlain, who was the history department chairman at that time. He hired me during our phone conversation. He was willing to take their word about me,” Richman said. “I thought, ‘Great. I’ll go back to Texas for a year or two.’”

Through this experience, Richman realized the relationships created by students during their college education can be valuable later on in life.

“It is why the School of Honors is important,” he said. “The students get to know one another. They learn to work together and interact. Then, they get each other jobs, or at least introductions to people who will offer employment.”

Richman was one of several professors who created the original honors program at SFA, which was first limited to the College of Liberal Arts.

“We wanted to see if it would fly,” he said. “And it was a success. So the decision was made by the administration to bring it forward to a university-wide program.”

During Richman’s tenure, the school has grown to include approximately 600 students.

“The School of honors offers bright students the chance to network with other bright students in smaller classes and outside the classroom,” he said. “They work on projects together that foster creativity, and if they complete 25 hours on honors coursework, they have a School of Honors designation on their diploma, as well as an additional diploma from the School of Honors. It also looks fabulous on their resumes.”

When Richman agreed to assume leadership for the school, his primary concern was the shortage of financial aid for SFA’s top students. To solve that problem, he has helped to raise more than $1.5 million in scholarships that are awarded by the School of Honors.

“Mrs. Betty Burr is the executor of the estate of former history professor Dr. Vera Dugas. She agreed to support several large Honors Dugas scholarships,” he said. “The School of Honors also screens applicants for the University Scholars Program. The Board of Regents was very supportive of this effort and the original $1,000 a year scholarships were gradually increased to $4,000 a year two years ago.”

Richman also credits Dorothy Wisely for her support of the program.

“The Mize Azalea Garden is named in honor of her mother and her generous grant financed it,” he said. “She has also provided the School of Honors with close to a quarter million dollars, which helps finance a variety of scholarships, including a number for study outside the United States.”

But the increase in scholarship funding is not the only indicator of Richman’s success. For the professor, the communication he maintains with former students after they leave campus is most meaningful.

“Students write to me about getting into medical school, getting into law school and their other successes,” he said. “They keep in touch, and they believe the School of Honors has contributed to their success. To this day I’m asked to write letters of recommendation for students I haven’t worked with in years. But I know their work ethic, and they know I’ll write a good letter for them.”

One of Richman’s last acts as an SFA employee will be to provide the commencement address for the graduation ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 9. While he’s looking forward to retirement, he leaves SFA with mixed emotions.

“I’m 70 years old,” Richman explained. “I could have retired several years ago. But I was just having too much fun to retire.”

Richman said he enjoyed watching SFA students take advantage of the opportunity to get to know SFA faculty members.

“We put every student in touch with some of the most knowledgeable and experienced professors in any given field,” he said. “Students can spend time with these people and get to know them and even work with them on professional projects. You can’t get that at the super-sized universities. What I’m most proud of is what this faculty does – we give students the tools to succeed. It’s up to them to decide how to use those tools.”