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UNI helped Gary and Myrna Floyd discover their passion for teaching and they credit their undergraduate years here for launching them on a lifelong quest of educating and learning.

“The most significant impact on our careers has been our start at UNI,” said Gary. “If you don’t get that good start, you might not get the foundation you need for the rest of your life. Sure, you also must ‘have it in your bones,’ but for us, UNI came along and cemented it all together.”

Gary and Myrna were science education majors who met at an orientation square dance and later worked together in food service. They began teaching in Grinnell and moved to Oklahoma where Gary earned his master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma. Myrna continued teaching middle-school science and received her master’s at the University of Miami at Ohio when Gary accepted a position to teach botany and earn his Ph.D. They moved to New Jersey where Gary was a professor of biology at Rutgers University and Myrna continued teaching junior-high science. In 1975 they moved to Columbus where Gary eventually became dean of the College of Biological Sciences at The Ohio State University and Myrna taught general science. They both retired in 1996 after teaching for a combined total of more than 60 years.

Despite their winding paths as students and award-winning educators at several institutions, UNI is where they learned to love teaching. According to the Floyds, teachers become good educators when they truly care about students and their success.

“To care about students is not a trivial thing,” said Gary. “You have to care that they learn and when your love for that develops, you revel in it. The reward is looking at a room full of students and seeing in their eyes that they are thinking. UNI helped us develop that passion. We still remember the names and faces of our instructors. I think UNI is just the right size; large enough to hire super-quality faculty and small enough for students to receive individual attention. UNI makes sure students develop their mental as well as their academic maturity.”

Myrna says UNI gave her the basics for her long and successful career in middle school science education. “UNI taught me how to teach and my core experience there was vital to my success in the classroom. I learned to be enthusiastic about what I was doing.”

The Floyds are continuing to support students. At UNI they have established the Myrna and Gary Floyd Endowed Scholarship and the Myrna and Gary Floyd Undergraduate Assistantship Fund. Through an estate gift they have created the Myrna and Gary Floyd Education Endowment for Biology and Science.

“The top priority in our lives has always been our students and teaching,” Gary said, “and by establishing these funds, we can help ensure that other students get the same good start that we did.”

What advice do Gary and Myrna give to today’s college students? “Take everything you can from the professors who students say are too hard. If you are successful in those classes, you’re well on your way. Don’t avoid the hard stuff.”

The couple have faced some ‘hard stuff’ of their own this past year through Myrna’s battle with colon cancer. She has successfully recovered from surgery and therapy and they are hopeful about the future. Gary says Myrna has met the challenge with her usual strength and endurance.

“We certainly don’t live each day as if it’s our last but our priorities are now very focused,” Gary said. “The good moments seem brighter and we enjoy them to the fullest.”
— Cassie Luze