Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Honors College First Graduating Class – William P. “Bill” Mech
By Gary Hyatt, WSU Honors College, gary.hyatt1@wsu.edu
Name: William P. “Bill” Mech
Hometown: Prosser WA
Main Occupation: University Educator/Administrator
Where you live now: Jupiter, FL
History
Graduating in the winter of 1964 William “Bill” Mech has the distinction of being the Honors Program first graduate. Bill grew up in the Central Washington town of Prosser. With the WSU/USDA agriculture station and the Hanford Nuclear site nearby, his town was populated with highly educated individuals. “It was cool that one of my Scout Masters had his PhD in Entomology and the other in Horticulture; it definitely helped when earning my Plant Science merit badge,” Bill recalls.
Bill was attracted to Washington State College after a visit to the Pullman campus and remembers being impressed by the new Honors Program. He appreciated the smaller class sizes, top faculty, and the opportunity to be around great students. Consequently, Bill moved to Pullman, lived in Pioneer Hall, and majored in Mathematics. He fondly remembers attending Friday Discussion Groups hosted at ‘The Pottery”, the home of Frank and Irene Potter. Frank Potter, the university’s first professor of philosophy, had a wonderful floor-to-ceiling library filled with heavily annotated books in many languages.
After graduating from WSU, Bill earned a fellowship with the University of Illinois’ Math Department, specializing in functional analysis. Upon earning his PhD, he was hired as faculty at Boise State University (BSU). One memorable aspect of his time at BSU was the location of the math department and university administration in the same building. “My office was right between the President and Provost, definitely giving me an over-inflated sense of importance,” he jokes.
At BSU, Bill served as faculty, chair of the math department, and was responsible for distinguished scholarships, from which they produced two Rhodes Scholars, and internships. His experience with The Honors College led him to become the first Director of the Honors Program at BSU. Dr. Bhatia’s consultation with the administration was crucial in adding an honors program to their curriculum.
In the late 90s, Bill sought a new challenge: creating a new Honors College at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Building this college from the ground up, he faced the challenge of gaining campus-wide support. He often recalled advice from Sid Hacker of WSU Honors: “Always remember, Bill, from time to time you will meet someone who has absolutely no poetry in his soul; forget about him—he will never understand.”
By the time Bill left his position, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College was thriving and recognized as one of the nation’s top honors colleges, alongside WSU. After serving as Dean, Bill concluded his career teaching college math at a county-wide magnet school.
Today, Bill is enjoying Florida winters, golf, and travel. Reflecting on his career, he takes pride in educating so many people and even working with a few math prodigies, including one who graduated college at the age of 12. I hope you enjoy learning more about Bill and his Honors experience.
Interview
1. Why did you choose to enroll in The Honors Program at WSU?
It was just starting as the first university-wide Honors Program in the country. Plus, it was affordable. It was like going to a private liberal arts college which also had graduate research available , but at state rates.
2.Can you describe a memorable class or project from your time in The Honors Program?
I remember my senior thesis, “Graphs of Groups” which was published in two parts, under Phil Gold. Later, I realized that this was a blend of some old and some new information that subsequently led to a book in The New Mathematical Library series.
3. Who were some of the most influential professors or mentors during your time at WSU?
Arne Lindberg, Ted Ostrom, John Elwood, Ray Muse, Don Bushaw, Sid Hacker, Paul Anderson (Physics), Vic Bhatia, Carl Nyman, Herb Wood, Henry Grosshans.
4. Can you share a significant personal achievement or milestone that you attribute to your education at The Honors Program?
I became active in the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). I served on the Executive Committee, President and then a decade as Executive Secretary-Treasurer.
5. How has your degree from The Honors Program influenced your career path or life choices?
I always enjoyed teaching and tried to bring in many connections to other disciplines as did many of my professors.
6. What do you think is the most significant impact The Honors Program had on you and your peers?
I believe that because of the exciting challenges of learning in this community of teachers and fellow students. I was motivated to attempt projects that I was not sure I could complete, I went on to establish the Honors Program (now College) at Boise State University, and the Harriet Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University. The sense of being the first was both daunting and familiar.
7. Do you have any humorous or particularly memorable stories from your time in The Honors Program?
Because I graduated mid-year in 1964, I was literally the first Honor Graduate. In subsequent years, like the Tenth Anniversary in Pullman, I came to appreciate that distinction more.
8. If you could go back and do it all over again, would you? Why or why not?
Yes, certainly. It was exciting to learn from some of the finest faculty and fellow students in Honors. This experience helped us to set our horizons higher than they might otherwise might have been. Many of us in this first class entered graduate or professional schools in which our studies would become increasingly narrow. Our paths predictably led us into some forms of leadership where we would interact with people of differing backgrounds. Our broad liberal arts course selections as Honors students would provide the valuable framework for our varied relationships. After all, how long can one carry on a productive social conversation about differential equations and normed linear spaces?