Ron Erickson
By Josh Stevens
Staff Writer
DMACC is losing another integral part of its team to retirement this year. Ron Erickson is the Network Systems Analyst for the Boone Campus. He has decided to retire at the end of his 19th year of service.
When Erickson took over there were 20 or 30 computers and now there are over 400. Erickson has been the engineer of the digital highway here on campus, connecting and maintaining the system. He also sets up, maintains and brings in new equipment like smart boards and projectors.
Erickson met his wife of two years Cynthia Cory, a nursing instructor, on campus here at DMACC where the two were colleagues.
Cory’s affections for Erickson happened upon her quickly but she recalled her first impression of him, “Mary Jane Green, Gary Stasco and Ron and I had gone out for a faculty lunch. He had a set of keys in his hand and he played with the keys constantly. This psychomotor thing he has is spatial psycho motor combo with logic is a very dangerous place because it makes you freaking smart. That day I remember [thinking] if you don’t leave your hands quiet, I’m going to slap you. So anyway the joke has been skinny people constantly move. He said that.”
Erickson is not only, as Cory put it “the alpha male IT at DMACC [due to him being the lone IT staffer]” that holds the technology systems together here at the Boone campus, but he is also a friend, an intellect and an avid music enthusiast.
Erickson’s passion for music coupled with his gift in electronics has led to his favorite hobby, building competition grade custom speakers from scratch. He entered his speakers in a blind sound test in New York. His speakers placed first in frequency response, third in build quality and fifth in construction.
Speaking about what he looks forward to the most with regards to retirement, Erickson said, “Not setting an alarm clock.”
Biology and environmental science instructor Tim Bergin described Erickson’s sense of humor.
“He has an incredibly dry sense of humor. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s joking or not but most of the time he is,” Bergin said.
He went on to say that he always has clever, witty, pointed comments that are never mean but oblique.
One of Erickson’s favorite moments at DMACC came when he was asked about the vending machines. The power had gone out and a student asked if the machines would still work.
Bergin said, “He will always come up and get the job done. Even on break he drops what he is doing and gets the job done.”
Erickson said he also looks forward to traveling Europe and completing projects around the house.
When asked about what he’ll miss most, he said it was the people at DMACC.
Erickson is well thought of by faculty.
Bergin spoke of his attributes, “He is incredibly detail oriented, so everything in the end is almost perfect. It’s not that he doesn’t make mistakes but he makes less than most people and when he does he knows how to correct the mistakes or adjust to them.”
“He’s not just a computer geek,” Mary Beth Hanlin said. She is a professor of anatomy and physiology here on campus and also a friend of Erickson.
Bergin said, “He has incredible knowledge of stuff not just computers but electronics but is also very political and is always up on current events. Even though he’s a computer person he is very perceptive.”
“I’m going to miss him a lot. I’ve had more difficulty adjusting to thinking about him being gone than he has,” Bergin said.
Hanlin said, “He will be missed big time.”
Maggie Stone, also retiring from her position here at DMACC and friend, said, “Ron’s a good friend and he’s kept this place going.”
Provost Tom Lee said, “We will miss his overall knowledge of the campus it’s technology, the infrastructure of the building in regard to technology and the overall knowledge of how the system works and especially with the windows platform because he’s very knowledgeable and responsive to the needs of faculty and staff. That and his overall relationships that he has built over the years is going to be hard to replaced. “
The campus is actively looking for a replacement and hopes to allow a time for the replacement to learn hands on from Erickson.
Staff Writer
DMACC is losing another integral part of its team to retirement this year. Ron Erickson is the Network Systems Analyst for the Boone Campus. He has decided to retire at the end of his 19th year of service.
When Erickson took over there were 20 or 30 computers and now there are over 400. Erickson has been the engineer of the digital highway here on campus, connecting and maintaining the system. He also sets up, maintains and brings in new equipment like smart boards and projectors.
Erickson met his wife of two years Cynthia Cory, a nursing instructor, on campus here at DMACC where the two were colleagues.
Cory’s affections for Erickson happened upon her quickly but she recalled her first impression of him, “Mary Jane Green, Gary Stasco and Ron and I had gone out for a faculty lunch. He had a set of keys in his hand and he played with the keys constantly. This psychomotor thing he has is spatial psycho motor combo with logic is a very dangerous place because it makes you freaking smart. That day I remember [thinking] if you don’t leave your hands quiet, I’m going to slap you. So anyway the joke has been skinny people constantly move. He said that.”
Erickson is not only, as Cory put it “the alpha male IT at DMACC [due to him being the lone IT staffer]” that holds the technology systems together here at the Boone campus, but he is also a friend, an intellect and an avid music enthusiast.
Erickson’s passion for music coupled with his gift in electronics has led to his favorite hobby, building competition grade custom speakers from scratch. He entered his speakers in a blind sound test in New York. His speakers placed first in frequency response, third in build quality and fifth in construction.
Speaking about what he looks forward to the most with regards to retirement, Erickson said, “Not setting an alarm clock.”
Biology and environmental science instructor Tim Bergin described Erickson’s sense of humor.
“He has an incredibly dry sense of humor. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s joking or not but most of the time he is,” Bergin said.
He went on to say that he always has clever, witty, pointed comments that are never mean but oblique.
One of Erickson’s favorite moments at DMACC came when he was asked about the vending machines. The power had gone out and a student asked if the machines would still work.
Bergin said, “He will always come up and get the job done. Even on break he drops what he is doing and gets the job done.”
Erickson said he also looks forward to traveling Europe and completing projects around the house.
When asked about what he’ll miss most, he said it was the people at DMACC.
Erickson is well thought of by faculty.
Bergin spoke of his attributes, “He is incredibly detail oriented, so everything in the end is almost perfect. It’s not that he doesn’t make mistakes but he makes less than most people and when he does he knows how to correct the mistakes or adjust to them.”
“He’s not just a computer geek,” Mary Beth Hanlin said. She is a professor of anatomy and physiology here on campus and also a friend of Erickson.
Bergin said, “He has incredible knowledge of stuff not just computers but electronics but is also very political and is always up on current events. Even though he’s a computer person he is very perceptive.”
“I’m going to miss him a lot. I’ve had more difficulty adjusting to thinking about him being gone than he has,” Bergin said.
Hanlin said, “He will be missed big time.”
Maggie Stone, also retiring from her position here at DMACC and friend, said, “Ron’s a good friend and he’s kept this place going.”
Provost Tom Lee said, “We will miss his overall knowledge of the campus it’s technology, the infrastructure of the building in regard to technology and the overall knowledge of how the system works and especially with the windows platform because he’s very knowledgeable and responsive to the needs of faculty and staff. That and his overall relationships that he has built over the years is going to be hard to replaced. “
The campus is actively looking for a replacement and hopes to allow a time for the replacement to learn hands on from Erickson.