John Klippert - 2001
MHS 1960 Graduate
Dr. John C. Klippert was nominated by his sister Nancy. In her nomination Nancy wrote, "John has always been skilled in mathematics. Whereas I struggled with Miss Irene Wachtel's algebra and trigonometry, he was one of her star pupils."
John received his Bachelor of Science degree from Case Western Reserve and his Ph. D. from The Ohio State University. He began his teaching career at The Ohio State University while he was working on his doctorate degree. Next he went to Wittenburg College, then to James Madison University where he has remained as a full professor of mathematics. John resides in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
In addition to mathematics, John has a passion for mountain climbing. As a member of the Ohio State Mountaineering Club, he climbed Mount McKinley in 1978. He has climbed almost every mountain in Colorado over 14,000. He twice climbed Mount Rainier and has climbed extensively in Europe.
The Klippert Family was devastated in 1995 when John was diagnosed with acute promyalocytic leukemia. He fought back and returned to teaching after months of intensive treatment at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle. However, in 1997 he relapsed and a bone marrow transplant was inevitable. His sister Nancy was a perfect match and became his bone marrow donor. After another extensive illness and rigorous cancer treatments, he once again returned to teaching at James Madison University. In March he celebrated his fourth year of remission. Last summer he did some mountain climbing in the state of Washington and plans to once again climb in Switzerland this summer.
John is highly regarded as an outstanding educator as evidenced by his James Madison Distinguished Teacher Award. He has served on committees that directly affect either the education of students or the well being of the faculty. He has served for many years on the Honors Committee, which serves in an advisory role to the director of the honors program of James Madison University. Within the mathematics department his primary service has been (1) chair of the calculus committee where he has guided the department through the maze of calculus reform and (2) as a member and sometimes chair of the personnel advisory committee in the department of mathematics and statistics. This committee oversees peer review and evaluation for all tenure and promotion decisions in the department. John has directed several students in honors thesis work to achieve honor graduate status in mathematics. In some cases the work those students did were a direct outcropping of research John himself had done in his publications. He has authored or co-authored articles in his area of expertise in several publications.
When discussing her brother John's community service, Nancy remarked, "Having spent 37 years in the classroom myself, it is my strong belief that anyone in the teaching profession renders the ultimate community service. In addition to John's professional services, he participates in cancer support groups encouraging others who are suffering the emotional and physical effects of cancer."