In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected 40th U.S. president. "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" topped the box office. Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" hit number one on the music charts. And faculty members John Olsh (left), Louise Paquin, and David Seibert joined McDaniel College.

These three were honored during the opening faculty meeting Aug. 24, for 25 years of distinguished service and contributions to McDaniel College. Also recognized was Jack Clark, associate professor of Mathematics who retired this summer.

John Olsh, professor and chair of the Business Administration and Economics department, began his academic career here, graduating from the College in 1967, and then continued on to earn his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California. He rejoined the ranks at McDaniel as Associate Professor of Economics in 1980.

Since then he has been recognized for his intellectual and leadership commitments by being elected to Omicron Delta Kappa in 1981 and to Phi Beta Kappa in 1985. He is also acknowledged for his commitment to learning, engaging students in and out of class, challenging them to grow and mature, and holding them to the highest standards.

Louise Paquin (right) found her way to McDaniel on a different path. After receiving her Ph.D. in Genetics of Higher Organisms from Georgetown University, Paquin completed a postgraduate fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and taught at several educational institutions. Paquin joined the McDaniel College faculty as Assistant Professor of Biology in 1980. She was awarded the Ira G. Zepp Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002 and has served as chair of the Biology department for nine years.

Over her 25 years at McDaniel, Paquin has been an outstanding teacher, deeply concerned about the personal and professional development of McDaniel students, a supportive friend to her colleagues across the College, and a person who is fiercely dedicated to issues of social justice.

David Seibert (left) has been walking along the McDaniel path since his days as an undergraduate on the Hill, which led to his B.A. in Physical Education in 1978, followed by a M.Ed. in Educational Administration in 1981. In addition, he has served as the head baseball coach for 25 years, assistant football coach for 20 of these years, and intramural director for five years. Seibert teaches a variety of courses, including fencing, weight training, tennis, and the First-Year Seminar, "America's Game: Baseball."

Honored for being named the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches College Coach of the Year in 1995, Seibert is also valued for having earned 300 wins as head baseball coach. Under his leadership, the 1984 Green Terror Baseball team captured the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship title.

Jack Clark who taught in the Mathematics Department since 1978 inspired passion in his students for problem-solving, music, outdoor cycling and mountain climbing, as well as the Japanese game of Go. In a citation by his colleague Dr. Robert Boner, Clark is credited for transporting countless students to performances of Bach's B minor mass and Mozart's operas, in Baltimore, D.C., and Philadelphia. "More WMC/McDaniel students have been to a performance of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte than those of any other liberal arts college," said Boner.

Clark, who earned his undergraduate degree at M.I.T. and his Ph.D. from Stanford, taught or directed advanced special studies in such wide-ranging topics as Dynamical Systems, Bifurcation Theory, Special Functions of Mathematical Physics, and Queueing Theory. He also was a prime mover in the Math Department's problem seminar which posted consistent answers cited in the problem sections in nearly every issue of the three journals published by the Mathematical Association of America these past 25 years.