After 40 years, thousands of students and an immeasurable amount of impact, Jerald Ogg’s influence will be seen even in the year 2076.
Ogg is going into his 40th year at the University of Tennessee at Martin. As a mass media and strategic communication professor and director of the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities, Ogg has impacted thousands of students during his time at UT Martin.
Ogg visited Martin after he had graduated to see his mentor, Richard Chesteen, when he was offered the job at UT Martin.
“I thought it’d be cool to try [teaching] for a year, and I really enjoyed it,” Ogg said. “One year turned into two, and now turning into 40.”
Ogg’s impact will reach far beyond the 40 years he has worked at Martin.
“I’ve got students in my class, right now, who, if they work until they’re my age, that means that’s 50 years from now, so the year 2076…” Ogg said. “There would be people working, using skills that I’ve taught them, and I’ll be long gone.”
He has taught students while wearing multiple different hats across campus. Ogg has served as chair of the UT Martin Department of Communications, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.
“If you’re in a job for 40 years, everybody around you is aging with you,” Ogg said. “But I’m in classes. No one is aging with me… I think it keeps you younger working on a college campus.”
While students are not aging with Ogg, current students have changed from what students were like 40 years ago.
“I would hear the students before class, just jabbering and just talking to each other,” Ogg said. “Now, you don’t usually hear anything because everybody’s on their phone, and that’s not good or bad.”
Ogg has found it vital to stay current with his students and understand how they change over time to ensure he is doing what he can to have the greatest impact on them.
Senior mass media and strategic communication student Ceci Rodriguez is one of the many students impacted by Ogg.
“One thing that I realized about him, especially as I was stepping into my internship and preparing for it, is that he is very passionate about getting me to where I needed to be,” Rodriguez said. “He was just as excited as I was.”
Rodriguez appreciates how his experiences give him unique stories and perspectives for the classroom.
“He doesn’t sit there and talk at you. He talks with you, which I really liked,” Rodriguez said. “He involves you in what you’re learning.”
This style comes from his own educational journey. Ogg completed his bachelor’s degrees in communications and political science from UT Martin, received a master’s in journalism from Louisiana State University, a Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University and a law degree from UT Knoxville.
Before coming back to UT Martin to teach, Ogg served as a Judge Advocate General Officer (“JAG”) for the U.S. Air Force. After active duty, he retired as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2009.
Rodriguez is not the only student who believes Ogg’s classroom skills are next level. Robert Nanney, UT Martin mass media and strategic communication professor, was a student of Ogg’s in 1987 during Ogg’s first year of teaching and has now been his colleague for going on 35 years.
“Anybody who’s ever had Jerald Ogg’s class knows what a gifted teacher he is,” Nanney said. “You don’t take his class without coming away with not only the content, but life lessons as well.”
Outside of the classroom, Ogg is also a great mentor to his colleagues.
“More than the classroom, he has sort of been a life mentor,” Nanney said. “He is just an excellent friend and person of faith who always comes up with these little wise sayings.”
Ogg feels a strong calling to the mission behind being a professor.
“I’ve had chances to go back to practicing law, making more money, especially early on, but there’s something about this mission here,” Ogg said.
Students truly are one of the most important things in his life. Ogg has a spreadsheet of all of the students he’s ever had, alphabetically arranged, including their name, the year they graduated, courses they took with him, what their grade was, whether they did any internships and any other notes.
“I tell them at the end, if you ever need anything, let me know. You’re on my sheet. You’re one of mine,” Ogg said.
Outside of the classroom, Ogg enjoys reading newspapers, cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs and traveling. He has been to all seven continents and 50-plus countries. He and his wife, Jane, have two daughters and two grandsons.
Ogg doesn’t plan to retire yet.
“To me, you retire to another mission, and I just haven’t felt another mission yet,” Ogg said.
For the time being, the MMSC Department can continue to soak up Ogg’s knowledge and wisdom.
“I think everyone should be very proud of him and thankful that we have him, because I don’t think a lot of universities have that luxury of having such a passionate, intelligent professor like that,” Rodriguez said.
