Dr. Don Lick

by Sandy Becker, Newsletter staff

The captain has stepped down. Dr. Don Lick resigned from his position as Department Head at the end of summer semester 2001 after 16 years of service.
Lick earned a BS, MS, and PhD in mathematics at Michigan State University. His focus in graduate school was on complex analysis, but most of his post-graduate and professional work has been in graph theory and its applications.

Lick taught two years each at Purdue and New Mexico State University before his two long-term positions as a faculty member at Western Michigan University for 20 years and then his 16 years (so far) at EMU.

“It’s a great job being department head,” Lick says. He has appreciated the generally hands-off approach of the administration at EMU, which allows departments to function rather autonomously.

Dr. Lick has written one book and co-edited several other books, published 57 research papers, co-directed many conferences, given countless presentations, served on a number of committees, supervised one PhD student (at WMU), and received several grants. What is there left to do? Retire, perhaps?

“I’m on administrative leave,” he says. “If I were a faculty member, they would call this sabbatical.”

Dr. Lick is currently working on two research projects in graph theory and has an office at EMU. He was invited to be the Principal Speaker at a conference honoring Frank Harary in the Phillippines this fall, but he decided to cancel his trip as a result of the terrorist activity. He will continue his research throughout fall semester and may teach classes during winter semester 2002.

More adventures await Dr. Lick and his family in the years to come. Both of his grown children are planning weddings, and he and his wife Carole look forward to having more time to travel as they approach retirement. They took an Alaskan cruise this summer that included white water rafting and panning for gold.

Dr. Lick and his wife recently purchased a new boat that is currently docked in Lake Michigan. The 35-foot boat has sleeping cabins with more room for visitors than their previous boats. Next spring, the Licks will cruise 600+ miles to the Sandusky Yacht Club on Lake Erie, where they keep their boat every summer.
“I love to be on the water,” says Captain Lick, whose parents were avid fishermen.

Dr. Lick does not have a firm idea of when he will leave Eastern for good, though he expects it may be a few more years before his wife is ready to retire. The department held a “thank you” banquet for him in late September. Over 100 people attended, and several faculty members and colleagues from around the state as well as from EMU spoke and gave presentations.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here at Eastern, mainly because of the faculty,” Lick says. “We have a very good department.”

Photos from the Banquet