Thursday, March 28th, 2024
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Who Makes Millersville Special

Dr. Gerard Igyor

This professor is from Nigeria by way of the University of Wisconsin.

This edition of Who Makes Millersville Special features Dr. Gerard Igyor, assistant professor of communication & theatre.

Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from Gboko, Benue State; it’s right in the middle of Nigeria.

When did you immigrate to America?
I came to America in 1979 to Wisconsin as a transfer student.

What is your educational background?
I went to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for my undergrad, where I got my Bachelor of Science in radio, television and film. I stayed at the University of Wisconsin for my masters, also in radio television and film. For my doctorate I started at the University of Pennsylvania and transferred to Temple University. I went to UPenn because they admitted me first. While I was there, Temple offered me more money, so I left the program and transferred to Temple.

Do you think that your background influences how you teach?
Where I am from, we don’t joke around when it comes to learning. We are very very very serious about learning. By the time I was ready to enter the University in Nigeria there were only about six universities that had the capacity to admit less than 5,000 students at once. There were over 500,000 students that were seeking admission into the University. You can see the fight for this and why you have to be serious not only in getting into the University but how serious you have to be with your studies. That’s how I come to the classroom. I bring that determination to put in the best that I can so that the students can come out in the end with something. I want my students to be able to hold a conversation with students from other schools and be able to converse intelligently with info they’ve learned from me. I want them to be able to present that information better than other students can.

How long have you worked at Millersville?
I came to Millersville in the fall of ’93 as a professor.

Where have you worked prior to Millersville?
Before Wisconsin I worked in a television station in Nigeria as a documentary film producer. I started teaching graduate courses in Philadelphia at Temple College of Health Physical Education & Dance. Then I started teaching computer applications, while I was also an adjunct in the school of communication. From Temple I went to Stockton State in New Jersey, teaching communication. After that I came to Millersville.

Why did you decide to become a professor?
I’ve always wanted to be a teacher of some sort. I wasn’t sure what area in particular until I got my Masters and then I figured I’d get a PhD in telecommunications and become a professor.

What’s your favorite aspect of being a professor?
I like engaging students that are serious about their education. It tends to be a problem for some students, but I like it when students are really interested in what they do. As class we do the work, do it right, then there is time for fun. A lot of time students don’t see that part of me, they think I’m serious all the time, but once we get the work done, then all that’s left is fun.

What do you find to be the most difficult aspect of being a professor?
The most difficult part is when a student is failing. It’s always our darkest hour, when a student who has good potential isn’t making it. I take it as a personal challenge—no one should be failing my classes so I make it my job to help them find their potential.

It’s been a long journey here—coming from a different country and cultural background isn’t easy either. You have problems with students not understanding who you are, but it’s worse when you discover that your own colleagues don’t understand where you’re coming from and can misrepresent you. The foreign faculty here bring so much—cultural, intellectual and artistic—to this university, but it can go under appreciated. It can get frustrating when your American co-workers don’t know who you are.

Do you have a favorite course to teach?
I like all the courses that I teach, obviously. I don’t have a favorite in particular. I don’t like teaching production classes right now, but other than that I love them all.

Why would you recommend communication as a major at MU?
With knowledge in communication you can work in almost every field there is. Here we have broadcasting—within that we have writing, production, marketing, advertising, writing for news—so there’s a lot just in broadcasting. Then there is public relations, theater and communication studies. So if you come out with a degree in speech communication you should be prepared to work almost anywhere, not just in a broadcast facility.

We understand you plan to return to Nigeria for some time in the near future. Tell us about that.
I’m going back to Nigeria for a one year sabbatical. I applied for a sabbatical leave three times and just got it recently. I’m leaving at the end of spring semester this year. I’ll be gone for fall 2015, all of spring 2016 and I’ll be back fall 2016. I’ll be doing research on the new technologies in mass media. I want to explore how they’re changing the concept of broadcasting. It only used to be radio and television, with the internet now we have blogs, social media, traditional news on the internet—I’d like to see how that has affected and penetrated the African culture. Once in a while I teach at a state university in Nigeria, my biggest project is the work I’ve been doing with them to establish a student radio station at the college. I’m happy to report that we’re almost there—once I get back it will be on the air.

Where did the idea for a radio station come from?
It was my idea. We talk about policy, regulation, law and deregulation in telecommunications. Somewhere in there we found that this gives students a chance for hands on experience; it helps the community and the students. I’m trying to make Benue State like any other university in America. WIXQ has been going on for a while now and it provides a voice for the students. For the students to have a station in Nigera, a third world country, that’s worth going for.

What are your plans for after your teaching career ends?
I plan to go back home and retire back to Nigeria.

You tell your students that no one pronounces your name correctly (“E-Gor”), how is it supposed to be pronounced?
The “I” is silent in the pronunciation. It should be said “Gyor”

Something you’re known for is your frequent use of the phrase “That’s sausage!” Where did that originate?
I had an English professor in film studies/production in the UK who was very fond of using that phrase. When we came back with rushes footage that we had shot on 16 or 35 mm film he would look at it and say “most of this is sausage, it’s unusable.” That’s where that came from—it’s stuck with me since then. Even when I don’t say it in class my students will.

Do you have a favorite quote?
I don’t really have a favorite quote but once in a while I’ll try to quote MLK. “There is always time to do the right thing.”

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?
Right now I don’t have any hobbies. I spend so much time here—I come here in the morning and don’t leave until 9 or 10 at night depending on how deep I’m buried in my work. I don’t visit friends around here. I’m never lonely though—I just always have something to do—I’m never idle.

 

2 replies on “Dr. Gerard Igyor”

Hello Dr. Igyor,
Just happened on this email and wanted to say hello. All our friends from the University of Wisconsin ask of you all the time. Best wishes with your efforts at home. Happy new year and God bless.

Well done Dr. Igyor! Have a great time back in Nigeria and I hope you can get the campus radio station there on the air. Much success! And don’t forget to enjoy the hot pepper sauce!

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