Harding College - Petit Jean Yearbook (Searcy, AR)

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Dean Priest - From Harding student to teacher - Here to stay w , Dean Blackburn Priest was born t kMayfT, 1939, in Columbia. Tenn., g'ihto a famiiy of six, with two brothers and a sister. Priest's early fife was spent in the Columbia area where a deep love for music was deveioped. While attending Central High School in Reckwood. Tenn.. the young musician became a member of the Midianders Quartet. The foursome sang frequently for a variety of functions and even serv- ect as the warm-up group for Jerry Lee Lewis on one occasion. Upon graduating from high school. the 18-year-old Ten- nesseean had what he called one of the hardest decisions of my life. It involved the choice to continue his music career or enroll in Har- dihgt University with his newa- and girlfriend. Carolyn Pogue. Priest had been introduced to ., Carolyn his wife- to- be by Wayne i and Doris Ball. a couple he credits with having a tremendous influence on him. The sweet. southern-voiced Pogue was a music eduction major and encouraged her avid suitor to travel Arkansasward and involve himself in Harding's music field. Priest did so quickly. He was a charter member of Harding's Belles and Seaux troop. With this group of performers, he spent a memorable time in the Far East on a USO tours Back in those days. said Priest, i'you had to either act or play an in. strument as well as sing to get in ,thhe group So, I learned three notes v on the bass fiddle. just one song. to Iijftry outwith. NthOugh the bass fiddle was not his expertise. music was After an initiai failure. which Priestcaiied a major disappointment to me,' the seaand-semester freshman joined Harding's A Cappeiia Chorus and eventually served as its president. He aiso sang in the school's male quartet, which accompanied the chorus on tour. Soon Priest branched Out to other areas of campus life. He changed his major from music to math because I wanted to do something else for my living. He served on the Student Association Council and was elected president at his social club. Mohicans. during w hisjnnior year. t: ' :Eventuaiiy the married Priestwas . named to Who's Who Among Stu- dents in American Colleges and ' :Uhiversities and graduated from Harding in the spring of 1961 with a BS. degree in mathematics. Shortly after receiving his . diploma, an Opening needed to be ' filled tn the HC math department lPriest sped through his master's program at the University of Mississippi in 10 months and returned to Searcy as a 23-year-old teacher. For the next 19 years. with the exception Of a three year abscence to complete his Ph.D.. Priest served on the Universityiaculty. Upon his return in 1969, the mathematician was promoted to chairman of his department. in the field of math. Priest has done more than simply teach. He has published a number of articles in the Fibonacci Quarterly. iMathematics Teacher and other 2. methemati'cs journals. t qtiieiwfhes presented papers at imeetihgs of the National Council of Teiajchers of Mathematics and American Mathematics Society in such cities as New York, Orlando. Atiahta and St. Louis. Also in his field, this year's dedicatee is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor scholarship society, and Pi Mu Epsilon. the na- tional mathematics society, The rest of Priest's time is spent ptaying his favorite sport. rvauet- ball, raising a family and serving his God. This deacon of the College church of Christ has worked on the worship Committee since 1969. He has brought up his children in the Chti'stian community and credits the school and the church with a proioimd and good influence. lI tilt has been a real blessing for our kids to have Christians to date and be their friends. Caroiyn and i wonder sometimes ifwe could have suceeded elsewhere. said Priest. in 1976. at the age of 37. Priest became enraptured in a mania which has claimed many hours of his last six years, Priest's wile blames Cliff Sharp for teaching the family the sport of racquetball. However. with all the time spent, Priest has found much success. His most prized trophy is the first one he received in winning the consola- tion bracket of Arkansas' class C state division. Since then. the rac- quet enthusiast has added some hardware for first place as the VAtkanlsas Ciass D singles winner : andjother tournaments. The humble teacher gives much thanks to Harding. Harding did a lot in turning my life around The music, the atrnOsphere and the men here were like nothing lid ever seen before. Words of love and admiration Come quickiy when speaking of Priest. His wife and marriage part- ner of 22 years commented. Heis got drivet Heis highly motivated. it seems that he goes to the extreme to accomgsiish whatever it is he wants to do. Perhaps a teachers greatest critics. thongm are his students. Because of his; influence on the lives. of many students. Priest received :tljej'Distitgguished Teacher Award in iQTD.j Roy Eairies. a math major from Searcy.I summed up his feelings and certainly those of many others who dedicate these pages to this man by saying, He teaches like he's excited about the subject. He relates weIl to the students, too. kind of like the Neale Pryor ot the math department. He's different in that he works you really hard and yet is considered a good teacher. Priest added that he and his fam- ily plan on being in Searcy. Lord willing. for many years to come. I'll aiways be indebted to Har ding for helping me out, and l'mI giad to be apart of the school now, he said. J in addition to Dean Sr and his wife Gam'lyI'nE the Priest family in- cludes Eere'se Leng of Atlanta. Ga , Cheryl Ma'tiida Lauriand Dean Jr. Because of his seninIviiy, humili- ty, courage; patience. and love for the Lord, he has become an outstand- ing husband; father. teacher and athlete, but most of all, our friend. We, the Senior Class of 1982. have chosen to honor this servant of our Lord by dedicating our Petlt Jean to himi Dean Priest. - Jimmy Mien J. VERY at ease, Dean Priest enjoys Jim Henderson's chapel program. 2- 4. PRACTICE makes perfect for the ardent racquetbaii player. 5. ON his way throqgh the Student Center, Priest Steps Id help one of his students mm a probiem. 6. AUGUST 29;.1980 was a happy day for the Pnes't Famiiy as they added a son to their number. e James Photography

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