Goodbye Professor
Jim Crompton
Professor of Practice, Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines
On May 12, 2023 I will retire (again) from my position as teaching faculty at the Petroleum Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines. I am terribly grateful to a number of people at the school who have helped me over the past five years to be able to “practice” being a university professor. That list of special folks includes: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins, Dr. Bill Eustes, Elio Dean, Kayla Booster, Dr. Linda Battalora, Dr. Dorit Hammerling & Dr. Ashlyn Munson (Applied Math and Statistics), Denise Winn-Bower, Terri Snyder, Rachel McDonald, and Dr. Wendy Fisher (computer science).
I took an online course to learn how to develop a course online and while doing that I figured out how to work with my daughter Emily to record video lectures and work with her to put the “talking head” audio with the PowerPoint slides. I hope to hang around for a while longer if there are guest lectures, special student projects and other “soft” money engagements, but as of May 12, I am off the payroll.
This second retirement (my first was with Chevron in 2013) is bitter sweet. My wife tells me I am not very good at retiring. She is right. There is no question that my body is telling me that I can no longer handle the commute from Colorado Springs to Golden every week in the Spring semester for PEGN 440. The last trek is this week. But my head and heart still want to contribute and be relevant (if that is possible) somehow. I could never be a “real” professor. I do not have a PhD, or a research expertise (with a funded program), or tenure, or anything like that. I just found a niche where my many years of industry experience with all the stories (some of them even true) to share with the bright students at Mines. I never had big classes and the COVID years of online classes created a very real challenge in personal friendships, but I will remember each student for the gift they gave me (even if my memory can’t recall all their names anymore).
My challenge now is to reinvent myself once again, is there still gas left in the tank? I still do have my volunteer work at SPE (Data Science and Engineering Analysis technical section) and PPDM (Three Data Wise Guys). I do not plan to walk away from them just yet. I have my contacts at USC (Dr. Ershaghi, Dr. Paul and Mike Hauser) where our paths cross occasionally. I still have my bird watching out our back deck and a few trips a year into the beautiful Rocky Mountains and the US southwest. I want to see Bent’s Fort (near La Junta) and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and maybe Canyonlands in Utah again on my bucket list. There are these blogs if anyone is still interested. Sometime one of theme hits a nerve but I have slowed down in writing them lately. (this is #126)
I have enough books on my shelf for many months of reading but I do not think I want to try to write another one (I have done 4). I have my Denver Broncos to follow, if they can figure out how to win again. Locally I have the Switchbacks to watch. That should be enough but retirements always bring out some anxiety and opportunity, (the old ‘one door closes and another one opens’ concept). Maybe there could be something with the Payne Institute’s Responsible Gas program and my Measure what Matters area of interest will lead to some fun future contacts. I would love to find a way to reach out to high school pre-STEM students and talk to them about their opportunities to help with the energy transition. We still need more engineers and maybe fewer lawyers. This is proving harder than I thought.
Some of my friend know that I am a sci-fi buff especially the iconic British TV series Dr. Who about the Gallifraian time lord known as the Doctor. In the episodes: The Empty Child and the Doctor Dances, the ninth Dr Who (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion (and my favorite of all time) Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) are in one of the most memorable scenes of the long series. Rose’s line “The World won’t end, if the Doctor dances” has stuck with me for a long time. I have never been able to loosen up enough to want to dance but I thought this article should have a link to that episode.
The best way I can think of to say goodbye to students, faculty and friends is this Irish saying. (P.S. I heard Cathie Ryan in concert in Colorado Springs last year – AMAZING!!). Hope to see you around sometime, please stay in touch. Maybe my interest in our family history is another avenue to keep me busy, we will see.
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May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Thought leader in progressing, building, deploying, and sustaining digital oilfield solutions.
1yYou haven’t heard the last from me Professor Jim. All the best to you and the family.
Thanks for giving back to your industry. Training others to sustain and broaden future prosperity is a sign of a successful career (and life).
Petroleum Engineer
1yThank you for everything Professor! Last year’s Digital Oilfield Class was one of my favorites, and I’m living the lessons you taught me down in Midland. Good luck on your next chapter 🎉
Senior Specialist, Data Management & Governance at ADNOC Group
1yHappy second retirement 💪
Social Media Manager and Analyst at Lloyds Banking Group
1yHappy second retirement 🎆