After teaching on entrepreneurship, new deal policies, and economic history for more than 14 years, Hillsdale College Professor of History Burt Folsom is announcing he will retire in December.
“One of my goals in teaching was that I would know when I should retire before my students knew it,” Folsom said with a laugh. “I think I’ve accomplished that goal. You need to set a good example here for people to not hang out past their prime.”
The college hired Folsom in 2002, and he has taught as the Charles F. Kline chair in history and management since 2003. He will turn 69 years old in November and will retire several weeks later. During his retirement, Folsom said he plans to write and speak on college campuses about his work.
President Larry Arnn said he will miss Folsom’s presence on campus.
“Burt is the first professor hired, after I came to the college,” Arnn said in an email. “I personally helped the department to recruit him, and I have been glad of it every day. For that reason, I am unhappy to see him retiring but proud for him, too. He will be an important man in his new life, and I hope and expect him to stay connected to the college in many ways. ”
Since joining the history department 14 years ago, Folsom has written four books, some of which are co-written with his wife, Anita Folsom: “Urban Capitalists,” “New Deal or Raw Deal?,” “FDR Goes to War,” “A Republic – If We Can Keep It,” and “Death on Hold.”
Folsom said he was able to write those books because of an agreement he made with the administration several years ago. He would teach full time in the fall each year and return to his Atlanta, Georgia, home to write during the spring and summer.
Folsom wrote all four of those books after he turned 60, and despite publishing so much in a short span, he said he isn’t putting down the pen anytime soon. During his retirement, Folsom said he plans to write one more installment in his series of books analyzing New Deal policies.
“When I hit 60, I knew there was a lot I had to do that hadn’t been done,” Folsom said. “There is still a book on Truman I want to write because the 1948 election presaged the politics of the day. The whole welfare state was coming in. That election has never been commented on adequately, so I have two books on Roosevelt and this book on Truman would serve as the trilogy to cap it off.”
Folsom published several of his books through the Young America’s Foundation, where he is a frequent lecturer for the conservative activism organization based near Washington, D.C. Folsom also served as the faculty adviser for Hillsdale’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom.
YAF President junior English Hinton said Folsom raised the chapter’s reputation and replacing him will not be easy.
“He’s easily one of the favorite speakers at all the conferences,” Hinton said. “He’s so encouraging and friendly. I think it speaks a lot about his impact on campus, when students at national YAF events envy us because he is a teacher at Hillsdale.”
Folsom’s current students said they couldn’t believe he was retiring and will miss the excitement and enthusiasm he brought to all his classes.
“What is wonderful about Dr. Folsom is that despite having taught these topics many times over, he continues to be energetic in his delivery,” junior Lauren Renslow said. “Today, he said that he was ‘high off Dr. Pepper.’ It’s funny to think of him retiring because he seems to have enough fuel to keep teaching for many more years.”
Members of Hillsdale’s history department also said they would miss seeing Folsom’s energy and passion during his lectures.
“Dr. Folsom is a scholar of national repute, and one of the wisest and most enthusiastic teachers we have ever had here,” Professor of History Thomas Conner said. “More than that, he is a wonderful colleague, an exemplary family man, and a model of Christian charity.”
Folsom’s last day teaching will be on Dec. 6, but he said he doesn’t deserve to have the traditional “last walk to class” that many Hillsdale professors have enjoyed on their last days.
Thinking back to the last walk of Professor John Willson, who had a 30-year career on campus, Folsom said he does not feel worthy to of the tradition.
Folsom said it isn’t that walk to class that he’ll miss but rather the class itself — it was in that first American Heritage course he taught in 2003 that made him fall in love with Hillsdale in the first place, he said.
“At a state school, you get used to students who really don’t care that much about their education,” Folsom said. “I thought students were going to rebel, when I brought in the huge Heritage reader to my first history class. And then one girl said ‘I’m so glad we are getting the chance to read this book.’ At Hillsdale, the student culture is very positive towards learning. I’m going to miss the classes.”