Hello!
Welcome to my personal page.
I grew up in Lombard, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I have lived and taught in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Nebraska. I have been truly blessed by God with two wonderful parents, Harold and Ada Jackson, and three terrific sisters. My sisters Susan and Mary live with most of their families in west central Wisconsin. My sister Janet's family lives in Lombard. My parents have been dead for many years and I lost Janet to brain cancer in 2003. I miss all of them every day. I am married—since 1978--to Dr. Susan J. Conover, Director of Theatre here at DSU. Sue and I are foster parents to Ariel, a bright and active 10-year-old girl!
If you haven’t met me yet, here’s a picture taken a couple of years ago when my wife and I first moved to South Dakota and I taught for a year at Pipestone Central School in Pipestone, MN.
I began my teaching career in 1976 as a junior high school music teacher. The experience taught me that I loved teaching, enjoyed working with junior high school students, and that I never wanted to hear young adolescents sing again!! In addition, the experience taught me that I was ill-suited to music and that I should follow my real interests in speech and human communication.
I have taught communication courses since 1977, first as a graduate teaching assistant, then as a high school English, speech, and theatre teacher, and for 21 years as a college professor. I earned my B.S. and M.S. degrees from Illinois State University and my Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I am currently completing work on a second master's degree in Counseling at SDSU. I enjoy gardening, reading (mystery novels, science fiction/fantasy, books on religion and spirituality, biographies), going to see movies and plays, cooking, playing cards, and getting together with friends. My wife and I enjoy the company of two fine cats, Scout (an orange, black, brown, white tortoise shell, short-haired female) and Red (an orange tabby male).
Here are some links to web sites I'm fond of:
The Center for Public Integrity FactCheck.org Communication Research on Disabilities Beliefnet Gardening Hampster Dance TV Dance
This site was last up-dated on August 25, 2004.