I just got the news from my Akron roommate that our Master's advisor Dr. Glen Njus passed away. This is really upsetting and sad. He had done so much for us when we initially landed here in 2002. He took us under this tutelage and we worked in his lab for 2 years.
His teaching skills weren't the most exemplary as he hated teaching in a classroom setting. He loved spending time in his lab at Akron General Medical Center, reaching early to start working and on most days skipping lunch. Multiple cups of black coffee and cigarettes did the trick for him. He was very supportive and tried his best to fund and educate us.
He once told us (when we were vary of graduating without a job in hand), that we must graduate on time because that was what we initially came to the US for. Graduating on time under him was a must and he made sure of that. He gave us full freedom to execute and finish our project/thesis on time and helped whenever we hit roadblocks. I even got my first position at Theken based on his recommendation although his name never featured while I started working there. I just know he probably put his weight behind my internship there. I can't thank him enough for this.
A gem of a person and a man of very few words. Few things got him to talk at length, especially his younger years in Iowa and how old times in America were. He must have been hardly 55 or 56. His death is untimely.
He was very much injury prone and once had taken a fall from a ladder while working at his home. His head was injured and while we visited him in the hospital during his treatment, he did not even recognize us. That was a scary moment for us. He recovered from that fall very quickly and resumed work within couple of months.
We last met at Suneel and Sindhu's wedding party in 2006, a day before Kirti and I were to move to Chicago. We talked at length with him and he wished us well and asked me to stay in touch. But as the distance grew, we lost touch and I never contacted him since 2006.
I am indebted to him big time and just lost a great teacher. May his soul rest in peace.
R.I.P Dr.Njus
His teaching skills weren't the most exemplary as he hated teaching in a classroom setting. He loved spending time in his lab at Akron General Medical Center, reaching early to start working and on most days skipping lunch. Multiple cups of black coffee and cigarettes did the trick for him. He was very supportive and tried his best to fund and educate us.
He once told us (when we were vary of graduating without a job in hand), that we must graduate on time because that was what we initially came to the US for. Graduating on time under him was a must and he made sure of that. He gave us full freedom to execute and finish our project/thesis on time and helped whenever we hit roadblocks. I even got my first position at Theken based on his recommendation although his name never featured while I started working there. I just know he probably put his weight behind my internship there. I can't thank him enough for this.
A gem of a person and a man of very few words. Few things got him to talk at length, especially his younger years in Iowa and how old times in America were. He must have been hardly 55 or 56. His death is untimely.
He was very much injury prone and once had taken a fall from a ladder while working at his home. His head was injured and while we visited him in the hospital during his treatment, he did not even recognize us. That was a scary moment for us. He recovered from that fall very quickly and resumed work within couple of months.
We last met at Suneel and Sindhu's wedding party in 2006, a day before Kirti and I were to move to Chicago. We talked at length with him and he wished us well and asked me to stay in touch. But as the distance grew, we lost touch and I never contacted him since 2006.
I am indebted to him big time and just lost a great teacher. May his soul rest in peace.
R.I.P Dr.Njus
Comments