Goshen College Professor of Economics Del Good retires after 38.5 years

GOSHEN, Ind. – Not one to exaggerate numbers, Goshen College Professor of Economics Del Good says he has served the campus for 38.5 years. His colleagues keep saying he has worked here for 40. Technically, he is correct with his meticulous eye for details and numbers, which one would expect from a “Good” economist.

Although he is officially retiring at the end of the 2005-06 academic year, he will actually continue to serve the business department half time with some teaching and administrative responsibilities. “I am sure that I will have taught 40 years before I am done,” Good said.

He will teach a business department course and several evening courses through the college’s Division of Adult and External Studies program, as well as administer a campus grant program. But semi-retirement will give him flexibility and “it should let me play golf until 10 a.m.,” he said.

Good, who grew up in Fisher, Ill., and graduated from Goshen College in 1962 after majoring in mathematics, started teaching at his alma mater during the second semester of the 1966-67 school year. He completed his doctoral dissertation in economics for the University of Illinois in 1970. Since 1988, he has held the college’s Carl Kreider Chair of Economics.

Outside of the classroom and teaching economics, statistics, management and other business courses, Good took on many administrative roles as well. He served as chair of the business department on and off from 1967 to 2001. And he participated in many campus committees and faculty governance over the years. Good encouraged the college to begin offering continuing education courses, serving as the first director of continuing education. In the early 1990s, Good helped create the first adult degree completion program in management, and has stayed actively involved with the program since.

Good feels fortunate to have been offered so many leadership opportunities from the beginning of his career. “I had wonderful opportunities relatively early on and was encouraged to be part of the planning process and help make decisions within the institution,” he said.

During his years on the faculty, Good took four teaching sabbaticals. During one sabbatical term he was a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield from Oregon; he also studied management and organizational behavior at Indiana University’s School of Business and School of Education; focused on public policy and health administration at the University of Maryland and taught business ethics for an international master of business administration program in Barcelona, Spain. While he didn’t experience the college’s Study-Service Term (SST) as a student, he had the opportunity to be a leader in Costa Rica in 1975-76 – the first time he ever traveled abroad.

Good has taken his role as a mentor quite seriously. He often brings former students back to campus to speak in his classes and liked to keep track of where they were and what they were doing. “I have tried to be available to students, to be someone who reaches out and talks about life and spiritual issues in their lives,” he said. “I have had some very positive experiences with students and have felt good about those times I was able to connect.”

Good and his wife Lou Ann are the parents of two grown children and attend College Mennonite Church. He has also served on the board of Goshen Health System since 1996.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.