Charter professor retires after 35 years with UHCL

Ashley Tobar

The Signal Staff

The University of Houston-Clear Lake has said its goodbyes, sort of, to well-respected charter professor Robert McGlashan, professor emeritus of management, who retired this past summer. Although retired, McGlashan continues to teach part-time at UHCL.

Robert McGlashan, professor emeritus of management and charter faculty member at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

After 35 years at UHCL, McGlashan has seen many changes within the School of Business. McGlashan believes that the biggest change that has occurred since 1974 is online courses. McGlashan has been teaching online courses for the past four years and thinks that it is user-friendly and convenient.

“People ask me all the time, is it better than teaching face-to-face or not as good?”  McGlashan said “I can’t answer that; it’s just different.”

Business secretary Olga Gonzalez-Wong has worked with McGlashan for more than 15 years and has known him longer than that. “McGlashan is a dreamboat,” Gonzalez-Wong said. “His colleagues like him, the other staff like him, students like him.  He’s sweet all around. McGlashan is a charismatic, genuine, caring individual, he’s admired, well-respected, and a knowledgeable colleague.  I’ll miss him when he leaves, but I hope to continue my friendship with both he and his wife.”

An old issue of The UHCLIDIAN featuring an article about McGlashan being named the Athlete of the Month for September in 1982.

The UHCL memories that McGlashan will especially cherish are from when UHCL had intramural sports. McGlashan was September Athlete of the Month in 1982-1983 at the university. He won the Southwest Regional Masters Track, Field Championships at Rice University, the Hill Country Classic Masters Track Meet in Mason, TX, and won first place in the long jump and triple jump at Wichita State University. These are just a few of many awards that McGlashan has accomplished throughout his athletic career.

His favorite sports include soccer, track and field. McGlashan participated in soccer tournaments when UHCL had intramural sports and has had a passion for soccer all his life. He believes the reason why is because he was born in Scotland and the majority of his family played the game and it has been with him ever since.

McGlashan feels that it is time to do other things in his life. He plans to volunteer at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International. He is also taking time aside to help his neighborhood by participating in Neighborhood Crime Watch, plans on participating in Master Track and Field, and to do things in his life that have needed to be done.

“I had no idea that I would be here for 35 years,” McGlashan said. He has enjoyed being at UHCL and believes that the school is maturing for the best and that there are a lot of nice people everywhere at UHCL.

For the future, McGlashan said would like to see “UHCL continue to develop new programs, and would like the Master of Business Administration curriculum to be more current and relevant” He also said he would like for online courses to be more effective for users.