Kevin Gable reflects on his time as Faculty Senate President

Originally printed January 11, 2014 1:00 pm  in the Corvallis Gazette-Times

By JAMES DAY, Corvallis Gazette-Times (reprinted with permission)

Kevin Gable on his last day as Faculty Senate President (Photo by Andy Cripe – Corvallis Gazette Times)

Kevin Gable has been a chemistry professor at Oregon State University since 1988.

He was chairman of the Chemistry Department from 2006-11, and he just finished a year as president of the OSU Faculty Senate.

But he doesn’t really count himself a political animal.

“The only thing that disqualifies you is wanting to do the job,” Gable said of how he wound up president.

“I never actually ran for it. When you get to full professor you feel a certain measure of responsibility to the institution.”

And being a chemist, Gable likes having a role in mixing things up.

“It’s all about shared governance. There is a tradition in higher ed and at OSU that the faculty demands a voice in how it’s done.”

Then Gable ticks off the pieces of the OSU puzzle in which the Senate wields significant influence: curriculum, academic regulations, the criteria for promotions and tenure.

Gable also noted the Senate’s role in the establishment of OSU’s new Board of Trustees.

“I’m extremely happy with the process we went through. It was a showcase of shared governance. The Senate specifically and the faculty broadly participated in the decision-making process. And that’s where our interest lies.”

Gable notes that in an institution as diverse as the OSU faculty, with more than 3,500 people, “there is a broad spectrum of opinion” then adds an old college joke: “If there are three faculty involved there may very well be four opinions in the room.”

There was a wide range of opinions in the room Dec. 12 when the Senate voted to approve a resolution asking the university foundation to divest from companies that are involved in fossil fuels.

At times the debate resembled a national political convention as representatives of the various colleges expressed their views.

In the end the resolution passed narrowly.

Gable’s conclusion: “It’s within the realm of the faculty to make a statement.”

When he is not teaching or working on Senate business Gable say he likes to cook. Which made a reporter curious about the relationship between the science of chemistry and how his expertise works on the stove.

“There are pieces of cooking that are purely art. But as an organic chemist I have an understanding of some of the processes when you cook. An organic chemist can follow a recipe. We do that in the lab all the time. Also, you understand why in a recipe you add things in a particular order.

“The goal is to have a good meal and a decent glass of wine to go with it and feel good at the end of the night.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact reporter James Day at jim.day@gazettetimes.com or 541-758-9542. Follow at Twitter.com/jameshday or gazettetimes.com/blogs/jim-day.

Copyright 2014 Corvallis Gazette Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.