Remembering
Dr. John Michael (Mike) Knight
The Tower
University of Central Oklahoma
College of Education and Professional Studies
Obituary
Dr. John Michael (Mike) Knight died on
Monday, April 26, after a brief but acute illness. He served Central State University and
the University of Central Oklahoma for 37
years.
Dr. Knight’s education included a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Central
State College in 1968, a Master of Arts degree
in Psychology at Stephen F. Austin State University in 1970, and a Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D.) degree in Psychology at the University
of Oklahoma in 1974.
Dr. Knight began his career at Central as
an instructor in the School of Education, Department of Elementary Education in 1973.
Dr. Knight enjoyed great success in all
aspects of his work as a faculty member being
recommended for tenure in 1978, being promoted to the rank of associate professor in
1979 and attaining the rank of professor in
1982. He was selected as chair of the Department of Psychology in 1982 serving until 1984
at which time he was appointed as Acting
Graduate Dean. In 1985, Dr. Knight returned
to the department chair role, where he served throughout the remainder of his career.
He recently received the OPS Legacy Award at the Oklahoma Psychological Society conference.
Through Dr. Knight’s contributions and accomplishments the UCO Department of Psychology increased its
visibility and reputation.
Mike Knight is survived by his daughter Dr. Angela Knight and her husband Greg Dines and their children, Addison Mae Hecker, Michael Maximillion Hecker; and Kaizer Bury Dines; daughter Amber Knight; and
Mike’s sister Cheryl Duck and her husband John Duck. Mike also had many cousins, a niece Teresa Duck
and nephew Ryan Duck and their children. His chosen family included Mark Hamlin, Rob Doan, Jim Machell,
and all of his family in the Psychology Department at UCO.
A memorial service was held Saturday, May 1, 2010 in Evans Hall at UCO.
The family requests that any contributions/donations should be sent to the Dr. Fred (William A. Frederickson) Mentorship Endowed fund at the UCO Foundation, 100 N University Dr., Box 133, Edmond, OK 73034.
Dr. Knight and Dr. Frederickson’s wife Patsie, established this scholarship endowment fund to provide support to students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree within the psychology program, and are participating in a student research assistantship. For more information about this scholarship, please contact
Judy Reyes-Henderson, Development Manager at 974-2763 or [email protected].
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Special Issue, Fall, 2010
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I Will Remember Mike
By James Machell
John M. (Mike) Knight, was a friend and colleague who I truly respected, admired, and about whom I cared a great
deal.
I will remember Mike for his incredible curiosity and passion for knowledge. He
was one of the most intellectually curious individuals I have ever known. He loved
learning and read everything in sight. He was an expert in psychology, but very well
versed in many areas. I will always be grateful for Mike introducing me to some of my
favorite books and dialoguing around important ideas.
Last summer, when asked by a junior faculty member in the department, “As a
senior professor, what do you think is the most important thing you do?” Mike responded, “Teaching research. Preaching science. Building programs and hiring faculty
who teach research and preach science. But mostly I just have fun being a student.”
Mike was a very good student.
I will remember Mike’s passion for his work. He was here all the time, much like
Bill Frederickson before him. Mike loved coming to work and did not think or talk about
retiring or doing anything different. I doubt that he would have ever retired. I remember
him saying, “Why would I retire, I love what I do.”
I will remember Mike for the relationships he developed. Mike had a unique bond
with Bill Frederickson and many others in the department. While not biologically connected, the Psychology Department is psycho-emotionally a family, and Dr. Knight was
the heart and soul of the department. Many students, faculty members, and staff members saw Mike as a hero, a man of extraordinary intelligence, wisdom, and drive.
I will remember Mike as a friend, confidant, and college leader. I admired and respected Mike for his talents as a teacher, his true concern for students, his passion for
continually learning, his accomplishments as a researcher, his ability to mentor others,
In the classroom
his integrity in always being honest, and his ability to fight like mad for his department,
but also step back and view things from a college and university perspective. Mike Knight is
NOT someone we will replace. However, we will
be steadfast in keeping his spirit alive in our
work with students and one another.
As many of you know, Mike was a runner.
Mike’s place east of town has many beautiful
acres and he came to my office not long ago
and excitedly showed me the GPS application
on his cell phone that he used to program the
running path on his land. Mike ran many miles
on a regular basis and, through the process,
wore a path into the earth.
We often hear the expression, “those will
be big shoes to fill.” As we reflect on Mike and
how we move forward, let me suggest that we
look to a character in Mike’s favorite movie,
Lonesome Dove. In that remarkable trilogy by
Larry McMurtry one of the wonderful characters
is a Native American Indian named Famous
Shoes. Famous Shoes was so named because
of his extraordinary ability as a guide.
As we think about our future, let us remember that nobody can fill Mike’s shoes and we
should not try. What we should do is to follow
that well-worn path he carved into the earth.
Mike leaves a legacy in his department, our
college and the wider community that will live on
through the lives of all those he touched and
influenced.
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Special Issue, Fall, 2010
Page 3
An Independent Mind
Angela Knight
Dr. Mike Knight, Mike, Dad, Papa, Brother, Son, Friend, Coach, Mentor,
Daddy was a man with a brilliant mind, developed from years of training,
learning and being the best student in the classroom. Dad often said to me
that he became a teacher because he loved being a student and in order to be
a teacher you had to be the best student in the classroom. For him learning
was life, a way of being and doing in the world. Here are a few of my stories
about my father that I believe created part of the man we all knew.
When Dad was in high school he received a gift from his parents, a collection of Ayn Rand’s books. Her writing impacted my father and changed his
way of thinking. During my lifetime I knew my father as a man of ideas and a
presenter of innovative thoughts. The beginning of his ability to be an independent thinker may be because of Rand; he talked of her stories often.
Shortly after Dad read all of Rand’s books he enrolled at Central State
College, he wanted to be an architect, just like the character from Rand’s
book, The Fountainhead. When he failed calculus he realized that he never
would be an architect. Around this same time he discovered psychology, and
the beginning of his long, productive, innovative career.
The process of enrollment in the 60’s asked for the student to list his
church, and since my father had been made into an independent thinker during his childhood and exposure to Rand, he listed Red Brick as his church on
the enrollment form. Dad was not afraid of a new idea, or more importantly
September, 2007, in front of “Red Brick” creating that new idea, while trying to figure out the rules of the game.
After all of Dad’s enrollment forms had been processed, he was called into the
Dean’s office. The Dean of Men wanted my father to explain his church, the Church of Red Brick, and wanted to know
what Red Brick was or what it meant. Dad just said “Old North is my Church.”
Independent thought, creating new ideas, looking at the world in a new innovative way was how my father’s brain
worked and the way he lived his life. I grew up listening to the story of Red Brick Church. His dedication to learning, for
himself and for others was evident then, with the Church of Red Brick, and it was evident and proven until the day he
died. He died a teacher, a father, a friend, a brother, a mentor, a papa, a coach, and the best student in the class.
Mike
and
Cheryl
Strange Fall Malady
Cheryl Duck
Ever since I can remember Mike was a die-hard Yankees
fan. When he was young the World Series was always played
during the day, never at
night. When the Yankees
were playing, Mike always
seemed to come down
with some ailment, and
have to stay home sick on
game days.
As the teams traveled
from one home field to the
other, he felt better and
attended school; but when
the games started again
his illness returned until
the series was won.
Of course, our parents NEVER put this all
together until Mike was an
adult and told them about
his strange, fall illness.
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Special Issue, Fall, 2010
Page 4
Dr. Angela Knight found the following on Mike Knight’s computer. “He wrote this, but I am not sure when,” she said.
Mike Knight’s Academic Autobiography
I remember sitting in Mr. Frederickson‘s 8:40 Tests and Measurements class at Central
State College as he retold the harrowing details of his experience the previous day in the
oral defense of his doctoral dissertation. He was smoking a cigar and more alive than any
person I had ever known. I was a senior (1968) and what I was going to do with my life was
very much on my mind.
The Viet Nam War was in full bloom and one of my options was dying. I didn’t like that
one, but Canada was so far away and besides I was far too afraid to be a coward and not
nearly brave enough to go to prison for a belief. No, I knew I would follow, not lead and
probably, not die. The Selective Service had turned all us seniors 1-A (first in line) in January, 1968 and given us our physicals so that we could be drafted immediately upon graduation. We were students, which at the time was synonymous with draft dodger so I didn’t
really think I had any options. But, just suppose….
It was also when I was a senior that I realized you can’t do anything with a B.A. in psychology anyway. That is, it is a pre-professional degree. So the question swimming amongst
Mike Knight, 1965, Fresh- the more real thoughts of far away wars in jungles was, “What am I going to do when I grow
up?”, and that was the epiphanal moment when I realized that time is far too precious to be
man at Central State
wasted living in the real world.
“If I could do anything I wanted what would it be?” I asked myself as I watched the new Dr. Frederickson describe
the esoterica buried in the appendices of his doctoral research. That’s the moment when I realized that I didn’t want to
grow up. I didn’t want to leave home.
“Well, I responded, if I could do anything, if life were perfect, I would stay exactly where I am. I’d remain here in the
Never-Never land of academe. Always a student. Always as vibrantly alive as the next thought, the next new idea. I want
to remain a student. Now how do I get someone to pay me to play for a living? Hummm, isn’t a teacher the alphastudent. Look at Frederickson there, thinking new thoughts, getting ahead of himself in his excitement. By Golly, that’s it!
I want his job.”
Time passes. I completed a very stressful M.A. at Stephen F. Austin State University, was awarded a one year Instructorship as the outstanding student, had a daughter, went to the University of Oklahoma, published a number of articles, had another daughter, piled up 20 years worth of student loan debt, and was making out lists of paired-associate
words for my dissertation when the phone rang.
It was Dr. Frederickson, “Hey, Knight, you want to come-up here and teach statistics for us?” I remember my interviews very well. First, I met with the faculty, then Dean Mullins, then Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr. Joe Jackson
(at least we had something to talk about, as it turned out his wife was my first grade teacher). Fortunately he didn’t remember me as a rebellious young freshman at CSC. Next we all sat down with the President of the University Dr. Garland Godfrey and talked about every course on my transcript and why, against all evidence to the contrary, I thought I might have something to
contribute to this university.
I thought the interviews had gone badly, but Dr. Frederickson must have been very
convincing after I was asked to leave the room, because I was offered the job of Instructor of Psychology for $10,600 a year, a sum beyond my imagining.
That next year, 1973, I completed my dissertation and coursework at OU while
teaching a full load at Central State University and living in Norman. I remember the
Tuesday/Thursday classes especially. I had an early class at Central, then back to OU
for a class of my own in Modern Learning Theories followed by an afternoon of running
subjects and a return to Edmond to teach my 6:00 class after which I would often analyze data on an old Monroe calculator until late at night. Some nights I just slept in the
office rather than drive back to Norman. As the Holmes Life Stress Index would predict, I
paid for this overtaxing of resources the subsequent year. But I was never happier.
In 1974 there were only six faculty members. Dr. Frederickson was teaching all of
the Statistics and Experimental courses, as well as chairing the Department. He had to
threaten to resign as Chair in order to get a replacement for Dr. Steele. There were a
1975
number of very strong applicants including Chris Spatz who had just authored a Statistics
text which is still in print (for many years Dr. Frederickson kidded me that he could have hired someone famous, but my
laughing in response was disingenuous because I knew it was true). I have always been and re—Continued on page 5
main grateful for the confidence Bill showed in me and the chance I was given to prove myself.
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Academic Autobiography, continued
Learning is my passion and teaching requires you to be the best student in the class. I have
always loved the classroom. Thinking anew is my FLOW, the zone where time passes without
my realizing it. As a teacher I am remembering the past, planning ahead, and mostly, being alive
in the world of ideas. Teaching gives me a perpetual sense of wonder.
The academic freedom to teach and do research is the reason why I love Central in all its
incarnations. My early years were busy but exciting. Our programs were growing and I was the
professional student I had always wanted to be. The thing I remember most about my early
years is the quality of the students. If I start naming names there will be nowhere to stop and I’ll
miss some one exceptional so I won’t even try, but it has always been the true students with
their thirsty minds and willingness to work that story me as a teacher.
Under the leadership of Bill Frederickson our Department was a very productive one. He
developed the Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and it wasn’t long before our graduates were in ever-increasing demand. Bill was a very fatherly leader. He saw his role as that of
executive secretary, who protected the faculty from the slings and arrows of administrative bureaucracy. The role of department chair is a unique one at a university, because you have a faculty contract but administrative responsibilities. Dr. Frederickson always saw himself as first and foremost a faculty member, but for many of us he was also a mentor. I learned much from him.
By the early eighties I attained the rank of full professor and was granted tenure. At the time, both of these academic milestones were difficult to obtain, because of the Regents quotas and the fact that the faculty was heavy at the
top end of the scale (The men and women who went to school on the G. I. Bill following WW II were approaching retirement. But to a young insecure faculty member with a family to support, they weren’t approaching it fast enough). It was
at about this time that Bill decided not to run for Department Chair again and I was elected. It was also at about this
same time that we hired an energetic former student by the name of David Mitchell. After I became Chair we hired Drs.
Doan and Everett in 1986, and Drs. Kerr and Devenport in 1987. In the early 1990s, Drs. Donovan and Anderson joined
the faculty. Mark Hamlin was hired in 1995, and Drs. Youll and Boquet were hired in 1996.
We have always been, and remain, a very diverse faculty. I think our greatest strengths are to be found in our diversity, our commitment to psychology as a science, and most importantly our mutual respect for one another. All of us
have a manifest love of learning, a desire to teach, and a commitment to the welfare of this department and this university. This is our commonality and because of this we are more than a department – we are a community.
Psychology Department about 1999. From left, front row: Jill Devenport, Mark Hamlin, Lorrie Youll, Phil Zimbardo, eminent psychologist from Stanford University, Kathleen Donovan, Mike Knight, and Frances Everett. Back Row: Peggy
Kerr, Jill Scott, Chalon Anderson, Bill Frederickson, Albert Boquet, and Rob Doan.
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Special Issue, Fall, 2010
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A Little Girl’s Old North Memories
Amber Knight
It is Saturday morning, and our adventure begins anew. After a night out at Johnnies, we join our Daddy at his
work. As a child, and later as a business major (much to my Father’s chagrin), I never knew Old North as the epicenter
of the hustle and bustle of activity that is college life. My
memories are of quiet, hallowed halls. And adventure.
We walk up the flights of stairs to Daddy’s office. The
stairs are covered with those funny rubber things that have a
diamond pattern. When we reach Daddy’s small and dusty
office we beg him for one of the lemon drops that he keeps in
a jar on his desk.
Then it’s off to scamper the halls, to breathe in the smell
of chalk, and admire all the delights in the vending machines,
to play with the avocado green rotary phones and the big
brown typewriters, pretending that we are secretaries, to run
up and down the stairs and hide from each other around corners.
When we had worn ourselves out we would go back to
Daddy’s office to color in our coloring books, or perhaps play
with the Pick Up Sticks that he kept in his desk drawer.
Saturday mornings were always such a special time with
our Daddy. Old North was always musty, dusty, warm, and
wonderful. It was always quiet, usually just the three of us.
Hard to imagine, I know. If, in our adventures, we happened to
encounter another person, we somehow always knew to
cease and desist our little girl antics and give that person (and
Old North), the respect deserved of such a sacred place.
And now, dear reader, I think it is only fitting that I go find
some lemon drops to keep on my desk. I miss you Daddy.
A Brown Leather Hat and Running Shoes
Kerri L. Johnson
It all began in an empty classroom. I sat reading a textbook. Early. Alone. Beside me sat a rainbow assortment of
pens with which I was meticulously color coding my comments in the textbook margins. As a returning student, I knew
what I wanted. At least I thought I did. I was what I now affectionately call my own students who have a high need for
achievement - a freak. And it was this freakish nature that compelled me to find my classroom early, to study for the final
exam - that would not come for another 14 weeks - early. And then my well-laid plans changed entirely.
He strolled in wearing a brown leather hat, and running shoes. Only extremely confident alphas wear hats. When I
began to leave the room, he suggested that I should stay...take his class called Narrative Psychology. He said that I
would like it. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I stuck around, never intending to enroll in the class. But I did enroll. Immediately.
And that changed everything.
Later we climbed the stairs of the red cathedral (Old North) together - as we would do frequently in the coming
years - speaking of psyence and my future. “You don’t want to be a hugger!” he proclaimed. And then he said the words
that had been spoken by our ancestors...and are spoken to this day in the hallowed halls of the academy far and
wide. He spoke into being a vision for my future that I had never contemplated. J. Michael Knight intended that I go to
graduate school and become an academician. Just as, years before, Bill Frederickson had intended that a young undergraduate named John do the same. And I realized at that moment that I wanted it. And so I pursued that vision
alone. Together.
And that changed everything.
He always told me, and undoubtedly countless others, “Remember yourself at your best. That is who you really
are.” The self that this phrase elicits in my own mind is me as an academic, a researcher, a professor, and above all, a
perpetual student of psyence. He spoke this vision into being. He made me want these things; I made them happen. The student becomes the teacher. And the teacher lives on, reflected in the student.
Remember yourself at your best. That is who you really are.
As I peer into this looking glass of myself, I see a reflection. He’s wearing a brown leather hat. And running shoes.
And he is smiling. I know that he is proud.
Goodbye Mike.
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What Teaching Means to Me
By Mike Knight
It has been more years than I care to remember, but once upon a
time, when I was in the final year of my doctoral work, I had the choice of
going to one of two Big Eight universities. Instead, I was fortunate enough
to be offered a position at Central State University. Even though I was
ABD (all but dissertation) I jumped at the opportunity.
“Why?” my major professor asked, “You’ll be committing academic
suicide!”
“Go to a big school where you can do research and avoid having to
teach,” cautioned another, and there it was. I had to admit that what I love
best is being in the classroom.
I enjoy research. I’m good at it and I like to teach it one-on-one to
students, but I am only truly alive, truly myself, when I am in front of a
class.
For me, coming back to Central was coming home. It is where I have
always felt the most comfortable and secure. I have been going into classrooms in Old North Tower, excluding a four-year leave of absence to go to
graduate school, since 1964. It is my home. I hope I never have to leave.
Dr. Knight, left, and Dr. Doan, commencement
A student once painted me a picture, which is hanging on the wall in
my office. It depicts two small kittens looking at a sunrise and one of them says,
“Every day something wonderful is waiting to be learned.” In spirit, I am one of
those kittens. I wake up each morning (OK, most mornings) thinking about the
day to come, and I can’t wait to get to school.
Teaching is a wondrous profession because you never stop learning. The first day
of each semester I make a singular promise to try to be the best student in the
class. To be a good teacher, you have to be a good student. Not only does each
new class have its own personality, you as a teacher are in a continuous process
of becoming. Heraclitus said, “No man into the same river twice steps.” With each
new class I see the concepts through new eyes as I help students recapitulate the
discoveries of other minds. It never ceases to amaze me how much I didn’t know
the last time I crossed this or that river.
I know I have a responsibility to students, but I also know I have a responsibility to
the courses I teach and the profession whose values I represent. As a result, I
think I am a demanding teacher who requires rigor and active independence, but I
Dr. Knight and Dr. Sternberg, new Pro- also think I am a fair teacher whose passion is contagious.
vost and Senior Vice President at OSU
Learning is my fountain of youth, and it is my students who provide me with access to this magical process. Without them I would be well intentioned, but far
more indolent. It is students who make it all possible and I hope I will always be aware that whether in the class or in
front of the class, whether studying from a book, or studying nature, being a student is a privilege and being able to be a
student among students is the most cherished persona of a teacher.
In Their Own Words . . . Contributions from Students
“He was exactly what I want to be – funny, intelligent, inspiring.”
“One of the brightest men in the world. I would not have been who I am without his wisdom.”
Dr. Knight was an influential part of my life and scholarly learning.“
“Dr. Knight was a great teacher.”
“Dr. Knight was a wonderful instructor. I hope to carry his knowledge with me always.”
“During his tenure as chairperson a most unlikely thing happened, he was awarded the
American Association of University Professors “Distinguished Scholar Award.” This is
an amazing feat for anyone, but unheard of for an administrator.”
– Dr. William Radke, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
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Dr. Knight was featured in the Vista in
1995.
Knight and family therapist Dr.
Robert Doan, wrote, The Stories We
Tell Ourselves: I-Spi: A Technique
for Narrative Assessment. The book
is a primer for the interactive computer program "I-Spi", which can be
used in research, education and
clinical therapy, Knight said.
When running the program, the
user looks at a list of words, and
then chooses words which are like
or unlike a specific concept in the
person's life. From the data collected, "1- Spi" then produces a list
of correlations between the concepts or stories. Then the user observes, interprets and talks about
the results. By articulating their stories, people can better understand
themselves.
Knight, chairman of UCO's psychology department, leads an active life. He runs an average of five miles every
morning, and one marathon a year. He said he runs for pleasure.
"I really started running when I' I hit 40 and my body started paying me back for all the things I'd been doing to it,"
Knight said. "I decided I don't want to worry about what I eat, so I'm going to run."
Knight said he runs to feel better later, not while he's running. "If I'm doing a real hard run, all I want to do is die,"
Knight said. Three or four hours later the endorphins are there."I'm enthusiastic, and I give much, much better lectures,"
he said. "If I miss my run, and eat a doughnut and 18 cups of coffee, I'm real crabby. When I discovered running, it was
like waking up," he said. He suddenly had all kinds of energy, and the per-sonal satis-faction of knowing he could do it. "It
helps you get per-spective on all the little
mundane problems of the day."
Knight's training was in cognitive psychology. His primary interest is in evolutionary and narra-tive psychology. In his research, he studies self-awareness and selfperception. He said he likes doing research
and extemporiz-ing about it with students. It
allows him to think about it anew and learn
that way.
"Learning is what’s fun," Knight said.
The current disk form, included with the
purchase of the book, was written by Mark
Hamlin, a UCO instructor in the department.
At the time of his death, Dr. Knight was
re-writing of the book. From the June 29,
1995 Vista, article by Joy McNutt.
The Dead Runner’s Society
motto, “Carpe Viam” (Seize the Road).
Back Row: Patti Hamlin, Angie Knight,
Avril Mruphy, Bill & Patsie Frederickson.
Front row, from left: Beau Reed, Mark
Hamlin, Mike Knight, David Mitchell and
Frank Lilly