After 13 years as a graduate student, doctoral student and political science professor at Binghamton University, Dr. Robert L. Ostergard, Jr. has decided to leave Binghamton University at the end of this semester for a position at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“It took me a long time to make the decision, but … some of the opportunities Reno is offering to me are just too good to pass up,” Ostergard said. “It’s really more about moving my career to another level than anything else.”
Ostergard, who is also associate director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies and a Schweitzer Chair, became a faculty member in 1999. Over the years he has taught a multitude of classes, including courses on American government, political violence, terrorism, world politics, globalization, political theory and contemporary political ideology.
“I loved my time at Binghamton. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have stayed around for so long,” Ostergard said. “What the University of Nevada, Reno is offering me is a new chance to engage in research and be creative in terms of what I teach.”
Ostergard said that his colleagues have been very supportive and understanding about his decision, while some students expressed their disappointment.
“I’ve gotten e-mails from current and former students who are disappointed that they won’t have an opportunity to work with me, or that they were hoping that I spent the rest of my academic career at Binghamton,” he said.
Florence Akinyemi, a 2005 BU graduate, said that she had worked very closely with Ostergard since her freshman year.
“He was my mentor,” Akinyemi said. “I took one class with him every spring semester. I also did numerous research and independent studies with him.”
“I definitely think he’s going to be missed,” she added. “I think many students have been touched by him. He really cares about his students.”
But, she said, “Binghamton’s loss is Nevada’s gain.”
Ostergard said that interacting with the students is probably the part of Binghamton life he is going to miss the most.
“One of the things I loved about Binghamton was the opportunity to get students involved in my research; over the years I’ve even taken the students to conferences and I’ve published with them,” he said. “Whether I’m able to build that relationship with students in University of Nevada – I don’t know, but I know I’ve had that here and I’m going to miss that.”
During his time at BU, Ostergard said that there have been many memorable incidents, but the one that really stood out was teaching a class on terrorism in the fall of 2001.
“That terrorism class was really one of those things I’ll never forget,” he said. “It was emotionally tough, because I had students who had lost family members in the World Trade Center attacks. It was intellectually and academically tough because the course in many ways pushed the boundaries of free speech.”
As his last semester at Binghamton is drawing to a close, Ostergard hopes that students walk away from his classes with two things.
“One — that they should never just accept something because it’s said or it’s written, but also, to accept the idea that they have a certain obligation to do that. I hope that they walk away with the idea that they can say things that challenge norms and the establishment.”
Ostergard is not the only instructor that will be missing from the regular faculty next year. Popular philosophy professor Maxim Pensky received a fellowship and is taking a sabbatical to work at Oxford University.
“I’m very happy about it,” Pensky said. “The formal thing that I’ll be doing is giving a series of public lectures and, informally, I’ll be working with their graduate and undergraduate students, participating in their workshops and research groups.”
Pensky has been teaching at BU for 16 years and has taken several sabbaticals to conduct research and teach at other universities. BU allows professors to leave for a period of time if they can procure research grants or fellowships at other colleges.
“It’s a way of enabling people to get off campus and explore and spend time at other institutions that they normally wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise,” Pensky said.
Some students, however, have been shaken up by this announcement.
“I like him a lot. He’s really intelligent,” said Liza Grant, a philosophy, politics and law major. “I’m just glad he’s coming back.”