Emeriti faculty within our College continue to enjoy important leadership roles within the campus community long after their retirements, sharing ongoing scholarship and research interests with students, newer faculty, and the larger community. Their knowledge and skills are critically important to a thriving and exciting campus community, and their contributions are valued as long as they want to remain active within their fields and affiliated with their academic Departments.
Mattilou Catchpole, for example, is a Professor Emerita in the Women's Studies Program who continues to teach anaesthesia to nurses in developing countries. Since 1990 she has made 21 trips to 17 countries in need of vital health care training and educational support services. In October 2006, she was one of 18 recipients of the prestigious President's Call to Service Award, which was presented by Health Volunteers Overseas.
Ray Schroeder, Emeritus Communications Professor, currently serves UIS as the Director of the Office for Technology-Enhanced Learning. In the Fall of 2006, he was invited to become an editor at Citizendium, a new initiative of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. As a volunteer editor, Schroeder uses his expertise in education technology to help ensure accuracy of articles posted to the website.
In May 2006, Dr. Judy Everson (Professor Emerita, English) co-led a guided tour of Lincoln Memorial Gardens along Lake Springfield with UIS alumni Dick and Helon Adorjan. The three recently collaborated on a book about the Garden, Lincoln Memorial Garden: A Living Memorial to Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Everson is still active on campus as a member of 
the Coordinating Committee for SAGE, an environmental conservation society at UIS.
Professor Charles Schweighauser, a former English professor, continues to lead the Astronomy-Physics Program. In addition to teaching courses in both subjects, he also directs the Star Parties at UIS, where students, faculty, and the greater Springfield community are invited to the campus observatory to view the night sky through the university's telescopes.
