Professor Anglin to enter ‘life after higher-ed’

By Chris Lusk, Editor

After 30 years of service, psychology professor Richard Anglin will walk away from OCCC.

But don’t tell Anglin he’s retiring.

“I hate the ‘R-word,’” Anglin said. “I prefer to say I’m entering ‘Life After Higher-Ed.’”

Anglin first came to the college in 1978 as the Director of Admissions and Registrar. Since then he has held many positions ranging from professor to dean of Social Sciences.

Originally, his plan was to stay at the college for two or three years before moving on, he said.

“I’m a person who needs change and a challenge,” Anglin said.

“Fortunately, OCCC has allowed me to change things up when I have felt like moving on.”

Throughout the years, Anglin has made much impact on the college.

One change he brought about was transferring the admission records from hard copies to computer files.

“When I first got here, 99-percent of all records were in paper form,” he said. “We worked closely with the Computer Center to get the process started.

“We were ahead of the game as far as electronic storage of files.”

In recognition of his efforts, the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers invited Anglin to go to San Francisco to speak at a conference.

“We were one of the first colleges to store everything digitally,” he said. “I was only invited because I was a member of the AACRAO. It was a team effort with the Computer Center. They did the work.”

Anglin said, when all the files were finally transferred to the computers, the admissions staff had a party.

“We went down to the river [and] had a bonfire …” he said.

Across campus, people had nothing but positive things to say about Anglin and his effect on the college.

Sophomore Erica Burns said Anglin’s psychology class was one of the most rewarding classes she has taken.

“He really cares about his students,” Burns said. “Not that other teachers don’t care, but he is so passionate about teaching that it rubs off on his students.”

Mass Media Communications professor Gwin Faulconer-Lippert said she is fond of the 20 years she has spent working with Anglin.

“I hold Richard in such high regard,” Faulconer-Lippert said. “He has such a heart for students. When advising students, I would feel so empowered to put them in his classes because I knew he would help them grow not only as students, but also as people.

“I’m sad he’s retiring.”

In all actuality, saying Anglin is retiring is a misleading statement.

After completing the spring semester, Anglin will work part time as a life coach.

“Life coaching is a profession which helps people have the life they want,” he said. “It’s to help people have a happy life.”

Anglin decided to make the move toward life coaching once he began pondering his future after leaving the college.

“I’m a person who likes to stay busy,” he said. “There’s no way I could sit at home and do nothing.”

As he was thinking of new endeavors to undertake, a friend of his started a new job as an over-the-phone life coach.

Anglin said his friend was helping people deal with the stresses of work, and the idea of helping people appealed to him.

“I researched the field and attended workshops,” Anglin said. “After learning much about life coaching, I knew I could get great satisfaction from it.”

The concept of a life coach appears to be a perfect fit for Anglin, as his background is based in both business and psychology.

Upon entering college at the University of Oklahoma, Anglin set out to take business for pre-law on his way to becoming an attorney.

He completed his bachelor’s degree in 1966, but a traumatic event caused Anglin to rethink his future.

“I got into a terrible car accident,” he said, “a head-on collision which wasn’t my fault. The doctors said I shattered my femur into 23 pieces.”

As a result of the accident, Anglin was forced to spend more than 11 months in bed with a full body cast, he said.

“I couldn’t sit up,” he said. “The cast went from my chest to my ankles. I just laid in bed and had a lot of time to reflect on life.”

Angling said his time recovering forced him to slow down and reevaluate his life.

“I was always a hyperactive person,” he said. “The accident made me take the time to stop and reflect on what was important and what would give me satisfaction in life.”

Anglin came to the realization law was not the career field he was passionate about. Rather, his passion was found in a different subject.

“During my undergrad work I took a few psychology classes because I thought they would help make me a better attorney,” he said.

Anglin said he never had considered teaching and counseling before, but after spending a year reflecting, he realized he should turn his interest in psychology to a career.

Following his recovery, Anglin earned his master’s degree in educational psychology in 1972 from OU. He then went on to complete his doctorate in counseling psychology at OU in 1976.

As Anglin prepares to box up his office, he said he is faced with a wave of mixed emotions about the last 30 years of his career.

“[OCCC has] been home for years,” he said. “I’m going to miss coming here every day, the students, the faculty and the staff.

“I’ll miss the daily interaction with such a positive force.”

Anglin said, while he has many reasons to feel saddened by his OCCC tenure coming to a close, he is excited for the next chapter in his life.

“I feel great anticipation for ‘Life After Higher-Ed,’” he said. “Many great things await.”

Editor Chris Lusk can be reached at editor@occc.edu.

Header