ABOUT RODGER "ROD" MINATRA

July 11, 2023

I have for most of my teaching career given my students some personal background on the first day of class. I think it started mostly out of nervous habit, tell a story, and the rest setting the stage to find out something about each of them. That habbit has continued to this day, but the stories are shorter and less telling, I hope. The first day of class is pure fun for me, the rest of the semester is work. This introduction is going to be a little bit more, but I hope not much more.

My interests as a young boy and high school student included animals, agriculture, trades, crafts, art, and music. I kept almost every animal imaginable as a boy and was often teased about it; like my part in the Jr. High play, where I came to class with pigeon feathers on me. I really enjoyed the crafts and the trades (something I learned from my father, mostly work-related). I liked building things, mostly from scrap materials my dad collected. I also liked music and art (something I inherited from my mother who was musically gifted). I still have an interest in these things.

Electronics and computers didn't become part of my life until after I was married. My wife and I met in September and married in December, the day after Christmas. In May she gave up her teaching job in a small town in west Texas so we could move to Texas A&M at College Station. I had two ideas, either veterinary medicine or engineering and a commission in the Army. I took trigonometry and chemistry, and we lived in married housing. It was a great summer for newlyweds, but not so good for college. I was not prepared for the classes or the careers.

I worked construction before getting married, and decided to try union carpentry in Arizona, but the economy was down, and I needed something else with some stability and benefits. I enlisted in the United States Air Force. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test (ASVAB) placed me in electronics, specifically computers and avionics, something I would not have chosen on my own. Many of the academic challenges I had in college disappeared during my Air Force training. It was this training and experience that launched me into my careers in business, industry, and higher education.

After a few years in the Air Force, working on test stations and avionics, I put in for a transfer to Lowry AFB to become an instructor in my Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC). I received the transfer. Some of the best instructor training/education I received was in the Air Force. I separated from the Air Force after earning a bachelors degree in agribusiness at Arizona State University and a master’s degree in education and computer technology from the University of Denver. I then took a job in Dallas, Texas that moved me from avionics to technical writing and telecommunications. This was my introduction to industry training and development. There is a great deal more to my military story, but that again is for another time. Enlisting in the USAF was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

While doing instruction and technical writing in avionics and telecommunications, I was asked to teach a night course in electronics at a local community college. This was the beginning of my academic career. After a couple of years in the telecommunications industry (lots of travel), I left that job to teach full-time at the community college. This was a cut in pay, but it gave me more time with my family. Knowing that I could get an annual pay raise with every 12 hours of college credit, I applied for a doctoral program and made sure I completed 12 hours every year. The credits added up and eventually I received a doctorate in Applied Technology/Training and Development from the University of North Texas. Quite an accomplishment for a guy that struggled with algebra. On a side note, it was my class in physics that changed the way I viewed math. I eventually worked my way into calculus.

To make a long story short, I spent about 13 years at the community college level teaching and managing electronics technology and manufacturing programs. I started teaching some university night classes in Dallas, and that prepared me for my next move. Looking for a promotion took me to my first full-time university job in Oklahoma, then to Missouri, Indiana, and finally southern Illinois. I’ve been teaching in higher education for more than 30 years now and have continued to take classes on the side, receiving an MBA degree and taking several classes in theology.

I have enjoyed my years of teaching, but the time has come to make another transition in my life. This year I will be teaching half-time and working on some other dreams and goals. I have also been blessed with 48 years of marriage to my wonderful wife, Sue. She has supported, encouraged, and followed me through all these changes. We have two daughters and five grandkids.