After 30 years of teaching, Ed Williams, journalism professor, is retiring.
After graduating from the University of Alabama, Williams began working at Auburn in 1983 after working in the newspaper business for seven years.
Primarily working in community journalism, Williams worked at four different newspapers prior to his employment at Auburn, which was his first teaching position.
Williams has taught newspaper makeup and layout, newswriting, community journalism, newspaper management, feature writing, reporting, photojournalism and journalism fundamentals 1100.
"The two things that I've done the longest that have meant the most were journalism 1100 and faculty adviser to The Auburn Plainsman; I did The Plainsman for 23 years," Williams said. "The 23 years I spent at The Auburn Plainsman were the best years of my life."
Williams said he enjoyed getting to know the students on a more personal level while working on the Plainsman that he sometimes couldn't get in the classroom.
Williams' dedication to the student publication is remembered even years after his retirement as adviser. An award is given annually recognizing the most dedicated, loyal staffer whose service to The Plainsman is unmatched, much like Williams' time at the paper, during which the publication picked up 13 of its 23 pacemaker awards. Williams' stepped down in the spring of 2008.
Williams keeps a memory box that includes roll books with the names of every student that he has ever had in class.
He guessed that throughout the past 30 years, he has taught hundreds if not thousands of students.
Williams said he has been thinking about retiring for several years.
"It has been so much fun, I'm not retiring because I don't like it," Williams said. "I just felt that after 30 years, it was time to step back, and slow down and I'm not sure yet what I will do, but with my newspaper time I've been working 37 years, so I've been working a long time and I've enjoyed every day of it, but I just felt like in my heart that it was time to step back and slow down."
Chris Roush was a student of Williams from 1984-85 and had Williams as a Plainsman adviser from 1986-87.
Roush is now a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Roush said he uses what Williams taught him every day.
"I've told him that I'm happy for him, but I'm sad for Auburn journalism students because they will not have the opportunity to have (him) as an instructor," Roush said. "Ed is somebody that I have kept in touch with for the past 25 years because he is more than a teacher, he is a friend."
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