Students said their farewells on Thursday to Professor Jerry Conrad, who retired last month from the University of Colorado, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate level courses in history from 1997-2020. By all accounts he was perfectly mediocre.
Friends, colleagues, and former pupils celebrated his career at a small gathering near the campus. Conrad reflected on his years of teaching and said he would miss the status and respect he received as a professor.
A few students recalled how Dr. Conrad shaped their education:
“It was never going to be the best class you ever took, but it wasn’t bad.”
Sam Kinnington, former student
“Look, he didn’t change my life, but I enjoyed the classes. I feel like I got what I needed.”
Jason Jones, student
“I just remember he didn’t like to stay after class and answer questions, but if you sent him an email he’d usually respond by the end of the week.”
Laura Conrad, former student
A Storied Career
Conrad earned his Ph.D. in Historical Studies from Vanderbilt in 1982. He worked for several colleges over the next fifteen years but settled at the University of Colorado in 1997, where he taught a variety of courses.
His Roman History courses were widely regarded as “pretty good.”
Colleagues said Conrad butted heads with the university in 2002 over what he called “pressure to publish every goddamned year.”
Most universities expect professors to publish academic and peer reviewed articles routinely. Conrad pushed back on this expectation, calling it “a bunch of bullshit that no one reads.”
Dr. Laura Sanford, a fellow history professor, said Conrad viewed publishing as homework. “Jerry didn’t like quotas or deadlines, and he really didn’t like the dean of our department. I can’t count how many nights we’d grab a drink after class and he’d rage about it.”
The comments reportedly cost him tenure.
Colleagues said Conrad spent several years writing a historical novel set in Ancient Greece but never completed it.
Fighting Scandal
Conrad courted controversy in 2004 when he divorced his wife and married a 23 year-old graduate assistant, Tanya Keen. A gender studies professor, along with another concerned student, complained that the two had begun their relationship while Keen was still Conrad’s assistant–behavior considered highly unethical in academia. He denied the allegations.
Court records revealed he was charged with a DUI in 2005.
Conrad found additional controversy in 2006 when he organized a trip to Europe. Students alleged the professor used them to secure funding and then purposely withheld necessary paperwork. He then canceled their spots and took the trip by himself, changing the location to Amsterdam at the last minute.
Martha Lancaster, who was enrolled in Conrad’s Classical World course at the time, grew visibly upset recalling the incident:
“Dr. Conrad told us how great it was going to be. Ancient ruins, battlegrounds, all the stuff you geek out about as a history major. But once we signed up and he got the grant money he just disappeared. When we asked him about the forms we had to sign he said they were online, but they weren’t. He wouldn’t return any messages or emails leading up to the deadline. Then he dropped us from the trip when it passed.”
The university investigated but was unable to prove any intentional wrongdoing, and the matter was later dismissed.
The final decade of Conrad’s career was largely uneventful. He says he decided to retire this year because he had finally saved enough money to not work. He looks forward to travel, fishing, and spending time with family.
The university asked Conrad to give a voluntary lecture to incoming freshmen about the importance of history to non-history majors, but he declined.
Conrad intends to travel France and Italy with his fiance in 2021.
