Millersville Professor Makes Time

Few would argue that 15 years spent volunteering somewhere is anything but a long, long time. Millersville professor Dr. Kenneth DeLucca, who has established himself as somewhat of an expert on time, has spent the past 15 years volunteering at the National Watch and Clock Museum.

DeLucca, professor of applied engineering, safety and technology at Millersville, spends about two hours every Wednesday meticulously winding nearly every clock in the Columbia museum which boasts a collection of over 12,000 items, 85 of which are DeLucca’s responsibility.

DeLucca’s fascination with the museum started back in 2000, when he visited it for the first time.

“I literally fell in love with the place,” said DeLucca. “As a volunteer in the Library & Research Center of the Museum, I learned that Pennsylvania has a very rich history in clockmaking”

From there, DeLucca decided to learn more about clocks and enrolled in the School of Horology (the art and science of timekeeping). After graduating in 2007, DeLucca began winding the clocks, schedule permitting, before taking over as Official Winder of Clocks in 2014.

Here is link to the National Watch and Clock Museum video.

Not only has DeLucca’s time spent volunteering been beneficial to his upper arm strength, (“You literally wind up the springs or weights of a clock so the energy is stored for another weeks run time,” explains DeLucca) but it has also affected the way he teaches his Technology and Its Impact on Humans course. The perspectives course examines technology’s effects on humans both good and bad, and the history of technology.

In a state with such a rich history of clock and watch making, DeLucca has made the National Watch and Clock Museum a recommended visit for his classes, hoping that they too can reap the benefits of taking a walk through the chronological history of timekeeping.

National Watch and Clock Museum
514 Poplar Street
Columbia, PA 17512
Phone: 717-684-8261 (Option 3)