Ray Enjoyed Long, Wonderful Career at College

Lisa Ray's pursuit of a career in acting didn't last long.

"I bailed two months into my first semester (at UNC Greensboro)," she said, noting the profession just wasn't for her.

She transferred to Appalachian State after her freshman year. A friend who dropped her pursuit of a theater career to become a history teacher thought Ray should take a similar route.

"I love to read more than anything in the world, and she suggested taking the English teacher route. She said, 'I would trust you to teach my children,' which was all I needed to hear," Ray said.

So she went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in education, planning to be a high school teacher. That didn't work out, either.

Following her boyfriend, who had accepted a job with NASA, to Hampton Roads in August 1989, she found all the positions for the new school year were filled. But that boyfriend, who seven years later became her husband, noticed that Commonwealth College, now Bryant and Stratton, was looking for instructors.

That got her started on a career in higher education, which did last long, more than 30 years in fact, including the last 25 at Thomas Nelson. Her official retirement date is June 1, 2021.

"I was very fortunate to get a full-time position," she said. "And I haven't looked back. I've enjoyed it very much."

She was at Commonwealth College for seven years, becoming head of its liberal arts division. After being an adjunct professor at Thomas Nelson and Old Dominion University for four years, she accepted a full-time position at the College in 2000.

In her career at Thomas Nelson, she taught developmental English, College Composition I and II, Film and Literature, American Literature I and II, Science Fiction in Literature, Women's Literature, and an acting course. She was the assistant division dean for four years, and chair of English department for two.

Ursula Bock, the Dean of Arts, Business, Humanities and Social Sciences, worked with Ray in several capacities. Bock was an adjunct faculty when Ray was an assistant dean, and Ray was on the hiring committee when Bock pursued a full-time position. Ray also was Bock's first boss at Thomas Nelson.

"She did a great job (in all her roles)," Bock said. "She's just a natural educator. She knows a lot and she knows how to get students to understand the material."

Mary Katherine Howard, a retired nursing professor who taught at the College from 1990-2019, was the interim dean when Ray was assistant division dean in the early 2000s. She recalled Ray, in addition to being supportive of her students, also looked out for fellow teachers. She was very organized and always made sure the adjuncts had the support they needed, whether that involved materials or convenient schedules. Bock agreed, saying Ray always made sure the faculty knew they were appreciated.

"She was such a reliable professional and very accessible," Bock said. "She was a rock and anchor in the division."

However, the role where she shined brightest was as a professor.

"I think she really embraces the philosophy of a community college … where it provides an opportunity for students who might not otherwise have an opportunity for education," Howard said.

That philosophy was what drew Ray to Thomas Nelson in the first place.

"I had been working for Thomas Nelson and ODU both, and one of the things that struck me was how important the function of the community college is, that second chance," she said. "I love the idea of what the community college provides to the community. … When I got the (full-time) job, I was excited because I thought this is my chance to help people."

Howard said the two would often talk about the impact they could make on students, often in small ways.

"Sometimes, you don't even realize the impact that you have," Howard said.

One such incident provided one of her career highlights. A student, about 10 years after being taught by Ray for just one semester, asked her for a letter of recommendation for graduate school, and then another when she went on to get her doctorate.

"I had her for one semester, but that student remembered me and wanted my recommendation," Ray said. "That is high on my list (of proudest moments)."

Lisa Seabron, who joined Thomas Nelson's IT department in 2013, was a student of Ray's in the early 1990s at Commonwealth College. She ran into Ray at a College event a few years later, not knowing she worked here. She recognized her right away.

"She was just the same," Seabron said, adding Ray was smart, but also down to earth. "She was awesome. She was very nice, very personable."

Seabron recalled Ray encouraged all her students, and noted she was a great storyteller.

"She would tell us a lot of stories about growing up in a rural setting," Seabron said.

Seabron remembers Ray telling her students that when she went back to her childhood home in western North Carolina, she had to change her dialect so her family and friends could understand her. Conversely, Ray said if she spoke to her students the way she talked when she went home, they wouldn't understand her.

"That was really interesting," Seabron said with a laugh.

In retirement, Ray and her husband hope to travel throughout the United States. She's written a number of urban fantasy novels, and hopes to finish No. 4 soon.

And while she never pursued acting as a career, she still feels its draw. She was in two plays at Thomas Nelson, and probably will do some community theater.

But she never regrets dropping acting for teaching.

"I've gotten to teach some really great classes," she said. "I don't know where else that could have happened, except at a place like Thomas Nelson."

Other employees who retired this year or are set to June 1, are Deborah Swinton and Lynda Byrd-Poller. Swinton was an administrative assistant for dean of student success and retention. She retired in January after 20 years at the College. Byrd-Poller, the director of Human Resources, will retire June 1. She has been at the College for three years.