Au revoir, not goodbye

Alfie Davis

Alfie Davis enjoys the last laugh at Goodes Hall, reflecting on a rich teaching career and rewarding retirement. This corporate finance professor joined QSB in 1981 and taught on the Commerce, MBA and MSc programs until his retirement in 2014.

What have you been up to since retiring?

My wife Marjorie and I have been living life to the fullest in Montreal. My main pursuits are gardening, travelling and enjoying family life.

What do you miss least about teaching?

Office hours, just before an assignment was due.

Did you have a favourite ‘dog-ate-my-homework’ excuse from a student?

Many years ago, a young lady showed up at my office asking to postpone writing an exam, scheduled within the next couple of days. Her excuse? She had a ticket for a boxing match in Las Vegas featuring Marvellous Marvin Hagler. If she didn’t leave Kingston that day, she’d miss the match. Being a sports fan, and impressed by her honesty, I said yes, provided that she would tell me all about it on her return. She kept her part of the bargain. (Hagler won, by the way.)

Lew Johnson

Lew Johnson relaxes in his Goodes Hall office. Highlights of this finance professor’s 34-year QSB career include teaching Commerce and graduate students; publishing an impressive body of research in academic journals and in book form; and taking on leadership roles as MBA program Chair, as Academic Director at Herstmonceaux International Study Centre, and as Acting Dean. He is a recipient of a Commerce teaching excellence award and the school’s Research Scholar Award.

What’s next for you?

Same as ever. I’m not retiring, I’m just not getting paid any more. I still have several graduate students to work with, and I have my writing. I’ve just retired from the teaching part of academia.

What aspects of teaching will you miss?

Many of my students have kept in touch after finishing my course, some of them for more than 30 years. This means that I made a connection with them and made a difference. Many teaching experiences are ephemeral so these connections are very meaningful.

What will you miss least?

Students who are more interested in their toys (phones, laptops, etc.) than in what we are discussing in class.

Carol McKeen

Carol McKeen drops in to Goodes Hall. Carol retired in Dec. 2014 after a 32-year career that broke new ground. The school’s first female faculty member taught accounting, ethics and gender issues in management to Commerce and MBA students. Her research, sometimes SSHRC-funded, explored gender issues, an interest that arose from her own experiences in male-dominated workplaces.

What have you been up to since your retirement?

My partner Mike and I divide our time between our homes in Saltspring Island, B.C., Montana and Kingston. Travelling for pleasure and spending time with grandchildren keeps me busy, too.

Something my students (and maybe even my colleagues) didn’t know about me:

My Grade 10 chemistry teacher assumed I would go to university and recommended that I also get a Master’s degree. I asked what the benefit would be, and he said I could teach at a university. Back in 1963, this was a remarkable idea, especially to me—the first in my family to even go to university. This story shows the importance of having mentors in our lives. I hope I similarly inspired some of my students.