Looking back at his 31-year-long teaching career at Andover, Doug Kuhlmann, Instructor in Mathematics, will remember most the students he interacted with on campus.
“I always look forward to seeing the students… I will miss the friendly banter. I will miss helping students struggle through a tough problem. I will miss seeing a student’s ‘Aha!’ moment when the light turns on,” said Kuhlmann.
“I have enjoyed interacting with students in many different situations: in the classroom, in the dorm, on the playing fields. I have also enjoyed being their colleagues in plays, musicals and beginning orchestra or even playing a pickup basketball [game] with students,” said Kuhlmann.
During his time at Andover, Kuhlmann has taught courses of nearly all levels, starting from Math 190 all the way up through multivariable calculus and linear algebra.
Beyond the walls of Morse Hall, Kuhlmann participated in the Bread and Roses community service program and served as one of the assistant coaches for Andover Softball.
Over his time here, Kuhlmann developed into not only a mentor for the students, but also one for fellow faculty members.
A pioneer in the field of technology as it pertains to the math curriculum at Andover, Kuhlmann helped members of the Mathematics Department incorporate the GeoGebra graphing technology into their classrooms.
Bill Scott, Instructor and Chair in Mathematics and Kuhlmann’s colleague, said, “Kuhlmann is someone who could teach up and down our curriculum from basic algebra all the way up through third-year college-level mathematics, and because of that, he’s an amazing resource.”
“He’s also been able to train teachers, and it’s going to be a huge loss for the department… I’ll be taking the course from [Kuhlmann] because somebody in our department needs to carry that tradition,” Scott added.
The experience of teaching at Andover had a positive impact on Kuhlmann, almost as much as he has had on the development of the Mathematics Department.
Kuhlmann said, “[Andover] has been very supportive, sending me to conferences, allowing me to live in England for a year on my first sabbatical and letting me teach some very interesting courses to talented students.”
“I was also able to explore the arts here. Several years ago, the Art Department offered week-long courses. I was able to take color theory, photography and ceramics. [Andover] gave me the chance to explore outside my area of expertise,” he continued.
Now bidding farewell to the school, Kuhlmann will retire to a more relaxing life in his home in Newbury, Mass. Kuhlmann is looking forward to removing the alarm clock from his bedroom and simply enjoying the extra time in the day read for pleasure and exercise.
“I look forward to having the time to do more with my wife: bicycling to Plum Island, kayaking on Joppa flats, going to concerts and plays together and reading the morning paper,” he said.
