For James B. Duke Professor of Geology Orrin Pilkey, retirement does not mean endless fishing and golfing trips, and not just because such diversions would hurt the coastal ecosystem.
"I'm taking a different task, doing just what I want to do," said the professor, who retires today and plans on writing several more books with his new-found leisure time. "I've gained a lot of wisdom. I want to summarize [my wisdom] in book form."
Pilkey, a pioneer in the field of coastal management, does not plan to leave the discipline he helped to shape. Instead, he will continue to lead several field trips, give guest lectures and direct the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, which he established. His labs will also stay open for the next four to five years and he will still receive research grants.
Pilkey is widely recognized for his body of research, which includes 22 books in his series titled "Living with the Shores."
Jeffrey Karson, chair of the division of Earth and Ocean Sciences said, "Orrin's extremely well known and a highly respected scientist."
Pilkey said he most enjoyed teaching seminars with graduates and advanced undergraduates; one of his graduate student courses sprouted the topic for his upcoming book discussing the inaccuracy of mathematical models for coastal management.
In another upcoming book, Pilkey will relate the knowledge he will gain about barrier islands from his trips to Holland, China, Brazil and three other international destinations this year.
The teacher appreciated his students' contributions to Duke's academic atmosphere. "The student body [at Duke] is just as sharp as a tack," Pilkey said.
Although the renowned professor has a strong political ideology, he said he has always tried to separate his science from his opinions. Still, his assertion that sea walls were built so that ecologically sensitive land could be developed for economic profit caused significant controversy. Pilkey taught that the coastal development system "was set up by engineers and scientists who were working for beach front property [owners or developers.]," he said. "[Coastal engineers] find the truth according to the people they are working for."
Courtney Schupp, a Trinity senior who took many courses under Pilkey, said she has consistently been impressed by his passion. "He can get incredibly animated when explaining problems with the politics of coastal conservation," she said. "Every time I meet with him, I laugh a lot and I learn a lot."
Brad Murray, assistant professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences who will teach Pilkey's Applied Coastal Geology course this semester, likened his predecessor to "a teddy bear with sharp teeth and a smile."
In recent years, Pilkey's enthusiasm for lecturing students waned. "When you teach the same course for many years they are sometimes tough to get up for," he said.
However, Pilkey's students saw that their professor continued to take a personal interest in his work. "He is not just a one-dimensional personality-he not only loves his work but he loves his family, he loves people [even some of his enemies], and he loves excitement," said Matt Stutz, a Ph.D. student under Pilkey. "He's been very generous to me and to all his students."
Karson, who learned of Pilkey's pending retirement a year ago, said he hoped that Pilkey's move could allow the department to hire a new junior professor.
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