Professor to retire after 39 years

American River College has had faculty come and go throughout the years, but one professor has been here to witness generation after generation of students as they pursue their college educations.

Professor David Gamst started his tenure at ARC in 1969, teaching public speaking and group discussion. He launched his career teaching speech after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State in 1966 and his Master of Arts from California State University, Los Angeles.

His students refer to him as being tough but fair, with high standards and he makes it clear what he wants from them.

"If the Humanities division were an episode of M*A*S*H, Dave would be would be Hawkeye Pierce," said adjunct speech instructor Nancianne Pfister. "He is our heartbeat, troublemaker, mentor, irritant, and champion. A better wise-ass verbal sparring partner does not exist."

Over the years, Gamst has been the founder of different projects like "The Freshman Project." He also established a scramble golf tournament, where a team of four players would hit a ball and the closest ball to the hole was used to designate each player's ball. On the seventh annual game, speech professor Paul Duax took top honors.

"The Freshman Project" was aimed at incoming students and helped them brush up on their study skills with a specialized class. The class helped freshman students become more involved in their education by motivating and assisting them. This helped reduce the number of students who drop out in their first year of college.

" Once he quit organizing, no one stepped up to push on," said Duax.

Gamst, as friends and students refer to him, will leave ARC at the end of the semester. His future will continue with his wife, Dorothy, and son, Anthony, away from the rat race of community college.

"He's, in my biased opinion, one of the most gifted speech instructors," said speech professor Pam Jurach. " I have nothing but respect. . . I don't know, I feel fortunate to call him my friend."

The humanities department is hosting a retirement reception for Professor Gamst today, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Davies Hall 330. All are welcome to attend.