Some people may view their career as a path to retirement, followed by the elimination of ties with their employer and a new life void of confining work schedules.
But does retirement necessarily signal the end to individual productivity and community service?
Not for a growing number of retired professors at Wayne State University, who are continuing their scholarly research by writing books, book chapters and journal articles; serving on governing bodies of national and international professional and scholarly organizations; mentoring younger professionals at Wayne State and elsewhere; offering services to the community; and much more.
Responding to the need of bringing Wayne State’s retired professors together and offering them support as they continue scholarly pursuits, Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus Arthur F. Marotti recently led the launch of Wayne State’s new Emeritus Academy.
“Over the past few years, many public and private universities, such as Yale, Emory, the University of Southern California and Ohio State, have established emeritus centers, colleges and academies to keep retired faculty in touch with their home institutions, support their ongoing research, offer academic conferences and lectures, and take advantage of their knowledge and experience to mentor faculty and students as well as to engage in community outreach,” Marotti said. “The Wayne State University Emeritus Academy hopes to engage in all these activities, which, it is hoped, will benefit the university and the surrounding community.”
During a launch event held last month at the Tierney Alumni House — where the Emeritus Academy maintains office space — Marotti outlined the goals and initiatives of the academy and its 65 members.
Among the various initiatives noted:
- Mentoring Wayne State University students
- Mentoring Wayne State University faculty, especially those in the tenure track who are working to earn tenure
- Workshop in life-writing (autobiography)
- “Brown-bag” lecture series where retired faculty members continuing their academic research either present new work or share
- Community outreach in the form of lecturing, consulting and other forms of expertise-sharing
- Sponsoring or co-sponsoring lectures and workshops by visiting scholars, and host an annual conference on a timely topic
Located on the third floor of the Tierney Alumni House, 5510 Woodward Avenue, the Emeritus Academy space accommodates a library and several computer workstations. The facilities are open to retired faculty 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Membership in the Emeritus Academy is currently restricted to retired Wayne State University tenure-track faculty. There are no fees for membership.
For further information, contact the Wayne State University Emeritus Academy director Arthur F. Marotti 313-577-2490 (office); 248-930-4240 (cell), or a.marotti@wayne.edu. An academy website is not yet available.