Dr. Ron Juffer has been a part of the Northwestern community for 47 years. His face is well known among the faculty, staff and students who have admired his hard work and many years of dedication to the college.
Juffer started his career at NW in 1967 as a faculty member in the Education Department and as the head basketball and baseball coach. Before that, he attended NW when it was still just a junior college. Juffer can recall many funny memories with friends during his time as a student.
After coaching for a few years, Juffer continued his responsibilities in the Education department. He taught many courses, including Foundations of Education, Secondary Methods and Educational Psychology. He was also involved with coordinating student teachers.
When he started teaching at NW, most of the students would either go through the teacher education or business programs. Juffer typically had two or three sections of Foundations class every semester, primarily consisting of freshmen. He especially enjoyed getting to know the students in each of his classes. He also met with many prospective students over the years to give them advice and guidance on making a college decision. Consequently, many students have decided to attend NW thanks in part to Juffer.
Juffer retired from full time teaching in 2002, but continued to teach part time until the spring of 2014. He is now fully retired but continues doing volunteer work for the Education Department and supporting the athletic teams.
After working at NW for many years, Juffer has been able to develop many relationships with students. He has enjoyed maintaining these relationships as former students have begun their teaching careers.
“It’s so satisfying to continue relationships with teachers in the area that are NW graduates,” Juffer said.
Each day he tries to email a few education graduates to keep them updated on curriculum changes, new faculty members, renovations with campus buildings and new teacher requirement laws. Many of the students will respond to his emails with their own updates.
Over the years Juffer has seen many changes at NW. He recalls the biggest change has been in the increase in majors and career sequences. He also has observed increased diversity in the student body. However, some things never change.
“The college has always been committed to the church,” he said.
He also mentioned that the student body has typically embraced each other in all the different activities on campus.
NW has impacted Juffer life in many ways. He has enjoyed being able to keep up with the college’s sporting events and different activities on campus. He and his wife feel blessed to be able to be a part of the NW community for so many years, and they look forward to many more.
