Dr. Mary Vander Maten, AN Biology, to Retire. Farewell Reception Today at 1:30
Dr. Mary Vander Maten, associate dean of biology at the Annandale Campus will retire from NOVA after 30 years of teaching science to Nighthawks. There will be a retirement celebration for her today at 1:30 p.m. in the Annandale Provost Conference Room, CFH-202D, to wish her well in her new adventures.
Mary and her husband moved to Northern Virginia with three small children and an infant in tow. She had been teaching college in the midwest, so she called the nearest colleges to where they would be living–George Mason University and NOVA. “The NOVA person asked me to come in that same day, and I started teaching Bio-101 at 6:30 a.m., getting home before my husband even left for work.” And, yes, you saw that right, that was 6:30 a.m.! “We have been teaching biology classes ever since then at 6:30 a.m.! I used to have to continually remind the facilities folks to open the building at 6 a.m. and keep it open ALL week, since we have classes all day Saturday and Sunday as well. A couple years later, I was hired full-time.” Getting students to enroll in a 6:30 a.m. science class just attests to what compelling instructors Dr. Vander Maten and her colleagues are.
“By the way, that infant grew up helping out at NOVA, and now he, John Vanderson, teaches chemistry at the Alexandria Campus,” she says. Vanderson’s name is a fusion of her sir name and her husband’s. “Because of his name, my good friends there never knew he was my son until several years later. My husband’s last name is Peterson, and he came up with “Vanderson” as our children’s last name. It would be a bit unwieldy to use Peterson-Vander Maten or vice versa. (Our good friends call us the Petermatens.)
Vander Maten says the highlights of her 30 years at NOVA have been her amazing colleagues who make learning better for our students. “I was able to chair many hiring committees, bringing wonderful biologists to NOVA, and I enjoyed bringing in dozens of great adjunct instructors. I especially remember helping with the CS Building renovation and getting the Science Learning Center started; it’s a super place for students.”
She continues, “When we started offering Bio-150, a microbiology course without chemistry prerequisites at NOVA, that stopped a lot of student tears in my office; so that stands out in my memory. A real treat was getting a biology major started at NOVA, after a long haul of planning and curriculum committees and VCCS hurdles. A huge thanks to the teams that made all of these things possible.“
As she enters a much earned retirement, Mary says she plans to travel to see her children and grandchildren. “Two of my adult children live in Wisconsin, so it will be easier to see them more often. We have eight grandsons and, finally, a 2-year-old granddaughter! I also expect to spend time gardening, walking, working with the neighborhood association and participating in more music at church. It will be fun to make a more concerted attempt at all the stacks of books in the house.”
We wish Mary all the very best in her much-deserved retirement and many adventures ahead!
Submitted by:
Kathy Thompson, Communications, KAThompson@nvcc.edu