Test Your Faculty IQ

ILLUSTRATED BY DAN LANDEGENT '85

You spent hours in their classrooms, listening to their lectures, completing their assignments and taking their tests. You may even have been invited to their homes or found a listening ear when you stopped by their offices. But just how well do you know Northwestern professors, past and present? We challenge you to play this matching game to find out. Pair each professor to his or her distinctive trait by writing the letter for the correct response in the appropriate blank.

1. Kept a stash of corn to ensure campus squirrels were well-fed.

2. Always began class by saying, “Good morning, class. Shall we pray? Dear Yahweh, we come to you this morning …”

3. Uses the acronym IMCTT (pronounced “imcat” and meaning “It’s more complicated than that”) when an abbreviated explanation doesn’t quite do justice to the complexity of the issue at hand.

4. Had a vanity license plate that said “PROF.”

5. Named pet cats Benzaldehyde’s Brother and Isovaleraldehyde.

6. Bakes mouth-watering cookies and is known for bringing samples to class.

7. Has a standard for humor that focuses on quantity over quality.

8. Could be found during office hours reading an Arabic newspaper.

9. Enjoys sharing the story of a lifelong romance that started in grade school and led to marriage.

10. So squeamish about spiders that lab students are required to pull the spiders’ legs off before this professor will look at them under a microscope.

11. Cultivated a huge garden and shared its bounty by leaving fruit and vegetables outside Zwemer’s south entrance.

12. Known for wearing Hawaiian shirts and saying “smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy.”

13. Climbed trees outside of Van Peursem Hall in the spring, toting a camera up to the tallest limb and hanging precariously in order to get the perfect shot of the magnolia blossoms.

14. Color-coordinates the dry-erase markers used in class with that day’s outfit.

15. Asked anyone passing by at break time to come to the Dutch Mart for coffee (and if you were a student, paid for the coffee).

16. Rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

17. Has a voicemail message that tells callers they’ve reached a rational number—and if they’re feeling rational, to leave a message.

18. Reads dictionaries for fun.

19. Maintains that CDI (claim, data, interpretation) is the way to organize an academic paragraph.

20. Described the ideal life as “reading all winter and gardening all summer.”

21. Competes in inline-skating marathons.

22. Wore black rubber boots—unzipped and with pants tucked inside—all day long during the winter.

23. Finishes every class with “Do good work.”

24. Wears camouflage clothing to work at least twice a week.

25. When students would express surprise about this professor’s birthplace in North Dakota, they would get in response, “Why not Minot?”

KEY

1. Carl Vandermeulen	6. Jennifer Feenstra	11. Mike Yoder	16. Lila Sybesma	21. Eric Elder
2. Lyle Vander Werff	7. Scott Monsma	12. Dave Arnett	17. Kim Jongerius	22. Howard Schutter
3. Ralph Davis	8. Ray Weiss	13. Rein Vanderhill	18. Michael Kensak	23. Karen Barker
4. Virg Muilenburg	9. John Hubers	14. Vonda Post	19. Joel Westerholm	24. Todd Tracy
5. Tim Lubben	10. Laurie Furlong	15. Dave Mulder	20. Verna De Jong	25. Kimberly Utke Svanoe

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