Faculty Profile
Dick Walters

Professor Emeritus, Computer Science

Dick Walters is a man of the world. He has lived and studied overseas. Much of what he has done personally and professionally has prepared him for his latest challenge – helping revive academic ties between UC Davis and Egypt.

Bob Kerr, Assistant Vice Provost of International Alumni and Development for University Outreach and International Programs, asked Dean Enrique Lavernia of the College of Engineering to identify someone on campus who could help develop collaborative agreements dealing with computer science, medicine and distance learning with institutions in the Middle East. As in the past, the College called on Dick Walters, Professor Emeritus in Computer Science.

"I don't think Dean Lavernia realized how close a fit it was," notes Walters, who lived in Romania until age 9 before moving to the United States. He returned overseas to attend school in France where his father worked for Esso Oil Company, receiving a "Diplôme Supérieure en sciences naturelles" from the University of Bordeaux. Along the way, Walters learned to speak Romanian, French and German. He also spent a summer in Cairo where one of his former students now lives and teaches.

"It just fits my life," Walters explains. "I am internationally-oriented. My background is international. My commitment to promoting international cooperation and to promoting ties between UC Davis and the Middle East is very strong."

It didn't hurt that Walters had more than 40 years of experience in computer science, medicine, and distance learning with four academic units of the University – the School of Medicine, the Colleges of Engineering and Letters & Science, as well as the School of Education.

Walters' role in this joint effort between UC Davis and Egypt will be as a catalyst. Because he has worked with a number of people and organizations on-campus and off, across the country and around the world, Walters' task will be to put the pieces together. He will identify content, process and connect with resources, then steward the commitments and relationships to ensure a strong, enduring collaboration.

The resources he hopes to bring to the table are as diverse as the project itself:

• Rick Reis, host of "Tomorrow's Professor," an international website and listserv dedicated to more effective teaching and learning
  
  
• Carol Twigg, expert at the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT), an independent non-profit organization which promotes effective design and delivery of distance learning in universities around the United States
  
  
• Professional and Organizational Development (POD), a listserv of faculty interested in improving teaching and learning in higher education nationally and internationally
  
  
• Pete Siegel, Vice Provost of Information and Educational Technology, UC Davis, who will advise on bolstering the technology infrastructure of the participating countries
  
  
• Jon Wagner, Director of the Teaching Resources Center (TRC), UC Davis, who will host faculty representing institutions in Egypt at a series of workshops designed by TRC entitled "The Seminar on College Teaching"

Walters is, and always has been, a supporter of continuing education and lifelong learning. With this latest project, and the many that led up to it, he continues to expand that commitment. When asked if there is anything he has left undone, he replies:  "Geriatrically, I am 77 years old. There is much I still want to accomplish. It is a matter of what and when." It seems the University and the world will benefit even more from the work of this international citizen and educator.