The man who keeps faculty on their feet

Posted by admin on Jun 9, 2005 in News | 0 comments

When President Snider announced at a faculty meeting that Dr. Dennis Jameson would be offered another continuing contract as Trinity Western University’s Academic Vice President, the faculty gave Jameson a prolonged standing ovation.

“In the moment, I think it came as a surprise,” said Jameson, who is in his sixth year at TWU. “I was humbled
. . . [and] a little embarrassed.” Jameson’s new contract will keep him here for another two years.

In his corner office in the Stanley Nelson Center, two pictures of Harley Davidson motorcycles hang on the wall, reflecting Jameson’s lifelong passion for building and riding motorcycles. He says he “loves” riding motorcycles because it allows him to be “absolutely alone” and “exposed to the elements.”

“I plan for the future, so it’s nice to be in the moment,” he said.

Born in a Sears parking lot in San Jose, California, Jameson grew up in the Silicon Valley. His parents, who were lay church planters, began a church in an American Legion hall in Santa Clara.

“On Saturday nights, [the Legion] had beer-swilling parties, so Sunday mornings, we’d get there early so I could sweep up the beer bottles before church,” Jameson said.

As a teenager, he worked as an office manager for his family’s contracting company, but found himself wanting to be “the guy out there digging the ditch.” Despite his early non-academic wishes, Jameson went on to earn six graduate degrees, including a Masters of Divinity and two PhDs.

Jameson pastored a church in the San Francisco area for seven years, and then moved to Latin America where he took the position of Dean at the Superior College of Lima, in Lima, Peru.

While there, Jameson was in three bombings and was arrested three times. On one occasion Jameson was stopped by the police for violating the house curfew in effect in the city.

“They claimed [I had committed] some violation that didn’t exist,” he recalls. Taking every bit of his clothing, the police put Jameson in a jail cell.

“[The police] released me in the middle of the night, knowing full well that the military owned the streets at night and would shoot anything that moved – the stray dogs, the homeless people,” Jameson said. He left the station hidden under a seat in a taxicab, after bribing the driver to take him home.

Following his time in Peru, Jameson spent three years working for the California Department of Education while also working at the University of California, Los Angeles,
as a Graduate Fellow. Jameson then spent seven years as Vice President of Judson College in Chicago, but came to TWU after he “felt a release from the Lord.”

A typical day for Jameson starts between 3 and 6 a.m.”I’m a nonsomniac,” Jameson said with a laugh. “I don’t require a lot of sleep, and I’ll probably die young to compensate.” He begins his day with personal devotions and a meeting with his assistant, Candy O’Conner.

“He’s an extremely hard-worker,” said O’Conner, noting that after putting in at least eight hours on campus, Jameson often takes home a bag “bulging” with work.

While Jameson spends most ofhis day in meetings, he says he likes to “keep [his] door open to people with brilliant ideas.”

“This is a place where ideas are birthed,” he said. “If we could sit and talk about your dreams and aspirations – that would be the best thing in the world.” Jameson says he wants to “empower” others to achieve their ideas.

Dr. Rick Sutcliffe, Chair of the Faculty Association, points to the development of the Global Learning Center as an example of Jameson’s own creativity.

“Other people set [the GLC] up, but it was his creative push that saw it developed,” Sutcliffe said.

As Academic VP, Jameson interacts with deans and faculty,
working to achieve the “greatest outcomes” for academic
life at TWU.

“The classroom experience is the bread and butter of this place,” he said. “We can’t be a university without faculty and the teaching-learning process.”

Consequently, Jameson works to retain TWU’s faculty, whom he believes are “world class.”

“I feel like a lion-tamer trying to keep other institutions away from us, because they want our faculty,” Jameson said. At this year’s faculty retreat, Jameson chose the theme “You Belong Here” to convey to faculty his belief that they are “called” by God to TWU.

Jameson has been instrumental in bringing the faculty together.

“[Jameson] excels in the ability to make a consensus,” Sutcliffe said, pointing to the current budget constraints as an example of this ability.

“We had to reduce the real academic budget by a considerable amount of money for next year, and there was a remarkable amount of unanimity among the deans on how to achieve those changes,” said Sutcliffe.

“[The faculty] speak with a common voice now,” said O’Conner, crediting Jameson’s use of humour and story-telling. She says Jameson’s sense of humour provides “relief” in tense situations.

True to form, Jameson concluded the interview with one of his signature Saskatchewan jokes.