Going Mobile
Dozens of small, convivial conversations were taking place on a warm Friday afternoon inside the Cavalla Room, stopping intermittently to allow for the consumption of elegantly butlered hors d’oeuvres. All the while, a simple two-piece band – just a piano and a clarinet – summoned the familiar tune of the old Duke Ellington standard Don’t Get Around Much Anymore to weave inconspicuously through the party. Though subtle in sound, the song inadvertently created an air of irony inside a room filled to pay tribute to a man who, even in retirement, will log tens of thousands of miles before the end of the calendar year.
Dr. Joseph Nadeau may be retiring from Rider University at the end of June after 37 years, but the outgoing dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Sciences isn’t answering the beck and call of his easy chair just yet.
“I’ve had a lot of inquiries from various schools and organizations about whether I’d like to do a few things,” Nadeau explained of his retirement plans. “But I’d really like to do some travelling first.”
Ironically, some of Nadeau’s initial post-work plans call for…well, work. “In September, my wife, Rosemarie, and I are going to our home in Phoenix for a few weeks to do some renovations,” he said. That will be followed by a trip to Peru in November to closely observe the native orchids and birds, and a cruise in December to French Polynesia.
Upon the Nadeaus’ return, there will be no shortage of photographic evidence, thanks to the revival of one of Joe Nadeau’s favorite hobbies. “I’m starting to get back into photography, gradually,” he explained, showing off a picture he took of a spinner dolphin in the blue waters of Hawai’i. “I like to take a lot of nature shots, so I’ll have plenty to do in Peru.”
Prior to his last day, however, Nadeau won’t be confined to his office, either. “Actually, my last week as dean will be spent rafting in the Grand Canyon,” he said of the annual trip he coordinates through the University. This June will be the 39th outing of the Rider Runners. “So you can say I’ll depart Rider with a splash.”
Guests at Nadeau’s retirement celebration on Friday, April 18, saw an exhibit featuring T-shirts, photos and other memorabilia of past Rider Runners excursions, a display that elicited smiles and fond recollections from those who were there. Their remarks were similar: For all the majesty of the Grand Canyon, it is the fun and the camaraderie among the people there that make the jaunts memorable. Ask Nadeau about remaining at Rider for 37 years, and he’ll explain it in a comparable way.
“The one, single thing that has kept me here is the people,” he admitted. “The facilities are only one side of a University. The thing that impressed me the most from the beginning was the supportive and interactive atmosphere.”
Nadeau was new to New Jersey when he and Rosemarie arrived at Rider in 1971. He had just earned his Ph.D. in Geochemistry from Washington State University, to go with a master’s from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, and had been working for Mobil Oil when he was offered a job teaching science in Lawrenceville.
“We had not spent any time in New Jersey, and didn’t know what to expect. My wife thought we were headed to the asphalt jungle,” he recalled. “But once we got here, we found it wasn’t that at all.”
Over time, Nadeau was promoted to department chair before former Dean Dominick Iorio asked him to become associate dean in charge of sciences in 1991. After Iorio retired, the colleges of Science and Education were combined in the interest of efficiency and in December 1997, Nadeau was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Sciences.
Since then, Nadeau says he has missed teaching, but is proud of the advances he has helped steer in the college. “My contributions over the past decade were perhaps not so obvious to the students, but I think the faculty realized it,” he said, pointing to initiatives like the Center for Innovative Instruction and the Teaching and Learning Center. “We also launched a lot of new academic programs, and I’ve enjoyed seeing them progress as they have.”
Just as he has helped to prepare Rider students to meet the challenges of their chosen career, Nadeau also takes pride in cultivating his faculty members for leadership roles on campus. Dr. Barry Truchil, who has been appointed acting dean of the CLAES upon Nadeau’s retirement, is grateful for the mentorship provided by the outgoing dean.
“Joe Nadeau’s leadership style has provided me with insights and skills that will help me in my transition to acting dean,” Truchil explained. “We’ve had many individual conversations where he has given me valuable advice and guidance, and he has also given me some additional responsibilities while he is still here to help ease the transition. Joe has made numerous contributions as dean of the College, and I hope I can build on his legacy.”
Even as he gets set to pass the torch, Nadeau remains committed to education and the sciences, a faithfulness that served as his initial inspiration to travel the globe. It was research that took him to Prague for a year to study various metals and environmental contaminants, but it had another effect. “That really made my wife and I want to see more of the world,” Nadeau said.
He has managed to do just that, mostly in the course of academic research. Two years ago, Nadeau cruised the waters of French Polynesia aboard the Calypso with explorer and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the legendary Jacques Cousteau, who made the vessel famous to millions of television viewers around the world.
Nadeau also served as the chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the region covering the Carolinas to Long Island Sound, and is active with the Audubon Society, both locally and in Phoenix. Just two weeks ago, Nadeau resigned as the chair of the Counsel of Colleges of Arts And Sciences, but will also continue to serve, as he has since 1986, on the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship National Selection Committee, an association that led to a friendship between Nadeau and the famed senator and 1964 presidential candidate.
While he will be busy throughout the various corners of the world, Nadeau plans to keep in touch with the campus where he spent almost the entirety of his academic career. “From the time I arrived here, the cooperation I found here among the scientific people was pretty obvious,” he said. “Regardless of fields of research, it’s always been a community, not a bunch of individuals. I think that’s the most crucial part of why I stayed at Rider.”
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