鈥淎 classroom this size is now a rarity at EMU,鈥� observed , who was a student in SC-106 when it was brand-new and who studied under each of the professors on the panel. 鈥淪maller classes are the norm now.鈥� Lehman, who chaired the that moved to the science center in 1981, retired earlier this year. He earned his PhD in applied experimental psychology at Virginia Tech University.

Most of the professors on the panel arrived at EMU, fresh out of graduate school, around the time the state-of-the-art building, with its domed planetarium, opened in 1968. All six were EMU alumni. The science center had not yet been named for , longtime biology professor and pre-med advisor who retired in 1985 and died in 2006.

鈥淭he highlight of my career was working with all these people,鈥� said Joe Mast, looking fondly at the row of colleagues to his right. 鈥淲e formed quite a community.鈥�

The six professors were a good fit for a small college, where they had to teach a variety of courses. But they were also a product of a college where they were encouraged to delve into a variety of subjects. Many of them were on faculty teams that taught “IDS” (interdisciplinary studies) courses that were required of all students in the 1970s.

, who earned his PhD in plant ecology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, taught almost every science-related course, at one time or another, that didn鈥檛 have 鈥渉uman anatomy鈥� or 鈥減hysiology鈥� in its title. 鈥淚 even taught a nutrition course,鈥� he said. Over the years he became an expert on ornithology, the study of birds. For 25 years he was the curator of the in the science center.

Kenton Brubaker, with a PhD in horticulture from Ohio State University, branched out to , biochemistry, genetics, ecology and agriculture. 鈥淚 taught a course on cell biology, which was new to me but very exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ears later I saw a former student who got a PhD in cell biology from Harvard. He said my course started his quest in the field.鈥�

鈥淣one of my nutrition students got a Harvard PhD in nutrition,鈥� retorted Mellinger.

One of Brubaker鈥檚 primary interests was international agriculture, fostered by a three-year teaching term in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1960s with . Another interest that he pursued, beginning in the early 1970s, was environmental studies and conservation. He and Mellinger helped start a campus organization called that continues to this day.

Brubaker, the oldest of the retiree group, joined the EMU faculty in 1959. The others came during the 1960s and early 1970s.

The Suter Science panel discussion, coinciding with the , attracted alumni who had studied in the building and sat in the professors鈥� classes.

Millard Showalter, who earned an EdD from the University of Virginia, taught in the mathematical sciences department. He followed five simple teaching principles: be enthusiastic, use humor, always be prepared for class, use praise, and demonstrate a sincere interest in each student.

In his 鈥淢ath and the Liberal Arts鈥� course, he had a standing invitation for students to earn an automatic 鈥淎鈥� by showing how they could take a plain sheet of paper and fold it eight times. For years, no one met the challenge. Showalter felt it was not humanly possible to fold a paper that many times. Finally, a student showed up one day with a tiny lump of paper that he had folded eight times. The student was 鈥� and Showalter looked to his left on the panel 鈥� Lehman, who worked part-time at a machine shop and used a mechanized press to aid him.

Glenn Kauffman, with a PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, marveled at the equipment improvements in his department over the years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing that we never had a major fire in the chemistry labs in the early years,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the organic chemistry lab used to be the smelliest place in the building.鈥�

Kauffman is most proud of 鈥渄eveloping a culture of research鈥� among his students. He devoted much of his own time 鈥� in addition to a full teaching load 鈥� to conducting research with students. Sometimes the research was in collaboration with James Madison University, across town, with grants from the National Science Foundation.

Joseph Mast juggled his interests in , , astronomy and . His PhD from the University of Virginia was in astronomy, but he was also trained in the other areas. He was an early student and then early instructor in computers. For 20 years he was director of EMU鈥檚 M.T. Brackbill Planetarium, enjoying his interaction with school children who came to his planetarium shows.

鈥淢y favorite course was astronomy,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen students would excitedly find Orion in the sky 鈥� that was great.鈥�

Robert C. Lehman, professor of physical science

Robert C. Lehman, 79, professor of physical science at EMU from 1955 to 1980, died Feb. 2, 2009, at Rockingham Memorial Hospital. Four days earlier, his sister, Esther K. Lehman, 85, died at Oak Lea, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. She was professor emerita of education, having taught at EMU from 1951 until 1982.

Dr. Lehman was born Mar. 22, 1929 in Harrisonburg and was the son of the late Chester K. (C.K.) and Myra Kendig Lehman.

Lehman taught astronomy and physics courses and was director of the M.T. Brackbill Planetarium, 1967-79, in the Suter Science Center.

On June 10, 1954, he married Ruby K. Swartzendruber, who survives. Also surviving are four children – Judith Ann, James Alan, Donald LeRoy and Douglas Chester Lehman – one sister, Dorothy L. Yoder, and four grandchildren, Allison, Eric, Brian and Michael Lehman.

Lehman spent a 1976-77 sabbatical year in designing and implementing and self-initiated projects and programs to raise the energy conservation consciousness-level on campus.

He installed a monitor in the Suter Science Center where anyone interested could see real-time graphing of the peaks and valleys of the college’s daily energy demands. Lehman’s study prompted the administration to repair steam lines that were losing heat in the winter, modify heating and cooling systems to be more efficient, change some lighting to use less electricity and invest more in energy-saving maintenance. The result was a $66,000 reduction in utility costs in a single year.

The EMU board of trustees gave Lehman a “resolution of appreciation” for his energy conservation efforts. During his tenure, he also led continuing education classes and seminars on solar energy alternatives.

“Robert was always an innovative strategic thinker with basic competence in many areas,” said John L. Horst, professor emeritus of physics at EMU. “In many ways he was my mentor.

“Robert was a good bass singer,” Horst noted. “He sang with the Park View Melodians as a high school and college student here. The group traveled widely during some summers.”

In 1970, Lehman was named president of Homes Foundation, a local non-profit group that developed housing for low- and moderate-income families. He was co-founder and first president of the Park View Federal Credit Union and was an amateur radio operator.

A 1950 EMU graduate, he earned a master’s degree in physics and a doctorate in biophysics from Penn State University.

He was a member of Park View Mennonite Church, where a memorial service will be held 3 p.m. Feb. 16.

Memorial contributions can be made to Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa., and the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at EMU.

How did astronomers discover galaxies? That question is probed in the newest public program at the at 草莓社区.

"Galaxies: Island Universes" will be presented 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, and repeated the same time Jan. 23, Feb. 6 and 20 and Mar. 20.

The program will explore the motion of galaxies, the different types of galaxies in the universe and how gravity holds individual galaxies together, according to planetarium director Joseph W. Mast.

The , adjacent to the planetarium, will be open for browsing 2-3:30 p.m. in conjuction with the planetarium shows. A fluorescent rock room, a 3,000-year-old mummy hand, a two-headed calf and Nile crocodile are among the more than 6,000 artifacts and specimens on display.

Admission to the planetarium and museum in EMU’s Suter Science Center is free.

The first Suter Science Seminar of the fall semester will bring a reknown scientist/astronomer to campus.

Dr. Owen Gingerich, research professor of astronomy and history of science at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., will speak 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, on the topic, “Dare a Scientist Believe in Design?”

Gingerich will discuss the presence of design, which supports a view of the world and cosmos as a created, purposeful universe.

The seminar is one of four scheduled for this fall. (Click here for more information on following seminars.) The seminars are made possible in part by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA).

Refreshments will be available at the Suter Science Center Auditorium 15 minutes before the presentation.

The seminar is open to the public, free of charge. For more information, call Dr. Roman J. Miller at (540) 432-4412 or e-mail millerrj@emu.edu.