This semester marks a passage of time in Friends University’s lifespan, as one of its most dedicated faculty and staff members retires after 43 years. Over those years, G. Robert Dove — or “Bob,” as he’s better known — has covered the gamut of teaching and administrative experience at this institution, and he has now decided to move on.

“I think it’s time,” said Dove. “I still enjoy teaching. I want to leave when I’m still effective instead of wait until I’m not, and there are other things we want to do … it’s probably time.”

Dove came to Friends in 1964 after earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology from Pittsburg State University. He spent one year teaching high school students and then learned of a teaching position at Friends.

“It was in the summer, so it was kind of a late last-minute deal,” he said.

That last-minute deal would eventually turn into a lifelong career.

“I’ve always been pleased to be here. I’ve always thought I was effective, and,” he said, “I pretty well fell in love with the institution and its people through the years.”

Pleasure, effectiveness and love seem to have been the right recipe for Dove’s long-standing presence at Friends.

“I’ve served under four presidents, or five depending on whether I count myself, so it’s been a while,” said Dove, who served as the University’s interim president for almost a year between presidents Richard Felix and Biff Green.

Starting out at Friends, Dove taught several years, serving as division chair of natural science and mathematics and earning his doctorate from Kansas State University. He then re-directed his professional life to join Friends’ administrative staff, serving as dean of the newly developed adult program, and then as an academic vice president and interim president.

“I taught probably the first couple years of administration,” he said, “and then I realized that was not working, so there probably was about 16 years when I was just involved in administration.”

In 1984, Dove served as the first dean of the College of Continuing Education, the adult education program that would serve as the foundation for the current College of Adult and Professional Studies.

Over those 16 years of administration, his affection for teaching never left, and Dove acclimated back to full-time teaching in 2002 without a hitch.

“I found it wasn’t a problem at all,” he said. “I’ve always loved teaching, and because it was about 20 years before I went into administration, I’ve been able to make the adjustment pretty easily and simply, and enjoyed it.”

Dove now teaches both a general education biology course and a course titled, “Biological Diversity and Design,” a requirement for biology majors. Over the years, he has worked with both traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students through the Program for Adult College Education, and said that he enjoys both.

“If you’re teaching a general ed TUG and a general ed PACE …there’s apprehension about science,” he said. “Some are good with it, and some aren’t, and they need basically the same thing, so age may not be the primary thing that makes students different.”

It is those students whom Dove said he will miss most when he leaves, along with his fellow faculty and staff members.

“(I’ll) even (miss) the challenges of being involved in education,” he said. “I think Friends has really grown in a lot of ways not just in size but in technology, in numbers of personnel and numbers of programs... and those are always challenges — to develop those programs.”

Throughout the years, G. Robert Dove has risen to those challenges, taking opportunities for growth when they surfaced and receiving the W.A. Young Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dove said the legacy he hopes to leave behind at Friends is, “That I was a good teacher, that I was responsive and helpful to all my students, that I was a good colleague with the faculty … I see that as an institutional legacy. A personal legacy would be more the people stuff.”

Considering the marks of devoted service he leaves at Friends, that legacy will no doubt endure.