Media, Communications, and Visual Arts Department Chair, Robert Klaeger, has recently announced his retirement after 41 years of teaching at Pace University.

After many times of contemplating the right time to retire, the chair said that he’s done everything that he’s wanted to do at Pace in terms of implementing new measures and overseeing the performance of the media, communications and visual arts department.

Thus, he felt that the best time to retire would be after the 2017 spring semester.

“I’ve been thinking about [retiring] since last summer,” Klaeger said. “[Teaching] is a profession where people tend to hang on and sometimes [professors] can hang on for too long. I wanted to make sure that that wasn’t the case with me.”

Before Klaeger began teaching at Pace, he also was a Pace student in 1965 to 1969 where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English language and literature. However, he always had a passion for film, thanks to his father.

“The first toys I ever had were film cores,” Klaeger said. “My father, who at the time was a motion picture editor, brought home cores and that was my first toy.”

Klaeger became involved with the film industry at 14-years-old, where he would bring equipment back and forth to laboratories. He also worked as a film editor at his father’s film company, R.H Klaeger Associates, as well as other companies.

However, the film lover didn’t move forward with his passion.

“I wasn’t particularly successful [as a film editor],” Klaeger said. “I’m not creative. I’m as creative as a pile of gravel. But I’m fast, accurate and neat, which sometimes, in film editing [are] very good things.”

The next profession that Klaeger considered was teaching, where he quickly found fulfillment.

The aspiring professor maintained relationships with his previous professors after graduation, but the person who granted him his full-time position at Pace was Dr. Richard Podgorski, former chairman, and English professor.

“I owe an awful lot to [Podgorski],” the film professor said. “I knew that he had this idea that you could combine the liberal arts with the technical aspects of communications. He started a new degree called Literature and Communications, and he asked me if I wanted to teach the course and I said, ‘Sure.’”

Dr. Podgorski hired the young educator as an adjunct professor at first before he granted him a full-time position three semesters later.

Pace has been a home for the long-time professor ever since.

Yet, there have been many ups and downs for the media professor over the last 41 years. For instance, the biggest challenge for Klaeger was earning tenure, which is a seven-year process.

However, there were many memorable instances that made the retiring professor experience at Pace something he will never forget. One particular 15-year-old memory made Klaeger chuckle as he spoke of it.

“It was August and I was about to teach a course in British film, which I really enjoy,” Klaeger said. “The phone rang… and I picked it up and identified myself. A male voice said, ‘Are you teaching British film?’ and I said ‘Yes,’ and he said ‘Well, I’d like to take it as an elective.’ And I told him that it was no problem at all. And he said, ‘Good! Let me ask you one question. Are the films in English?’ I was at a loss for words!”

It was recollections like these that the Pace Veteran treasured, which is what made his teaching experience enjoyable.

However, in all of these years, he believes that there is one thing that makes a good and successful student.

“Students don’t understand one thing that makes them good students in the eyes of a professor,” the chair said. “Ask a question. It doesn’t have to be complex or pretentious. But a student who asks a question is a student paying attention. If you ask a question to a professor, you’re asking a question about that person’s life work and professors remember that.”

As Klaeger leaves the Pace community, sometimes he catches himself wondering whether or not he made a difference in his students’ life. While there have been multiple students who have positively confirmed this, it will always be a question in the back of his mind anyway.

Nevertheless, the film professor looks forward to his retirement. As of now, Klaeger teaches film at Founders Hall, a senior center in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and will continue to do so.

In addition, he plans to read his way through a large stack of books and travel with his partner of 23 years, Elzelien, whom he refers to as the best thing that has ever happened to him.

In regards to returning to a university in the future, the communications professional said he will not rule that out just yet.

“You can’t do something for so many years and not be shaped by it,” Klaeger said.