Thirteen years ago, Frederick Ernst, a clinical psychologist and professor, fell in love with the Rio Grande Valley and accepted a position at legacy institution UT Pan American after 18 years at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.
After dedicating more than a decade to the university, Ernst will retire this spring. He was interim chair of the Department of Psychological Science, associate dean of Research and Faculty Diversity for the College of Liberal Arts and director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Research Experience Camp.
“What I love about what I’ve done here for 13 years is teaching,” Ernst said. “I absolutely love teaching.”
His most memorable experience at UTRGV was developing the Board Certified Behavior Analyst program and seeing it succeed. Ernst recalls working around 80 hours per week to start the program as soon as possible and to sustain it for years to come.
“I really will never regret having done that because I saw these students go off to careers and be really successful,” he said. “… They love what they’re doing.”
“Never doubt yourself” is the message Ernst gave to the UTRGV student body.
He hasn’t had trouble connecting with students and believes one of the reasons is his humble background.
“I’m still that working-class guy that knows what working in a factory is like, who, I think, can still find a way to communicate with students even at my age where they trust me and respect the advice that I would give them based on my not being a snobby sort of academic,” Ernst said. “I hope that’s true. That’s certainly my perception of myself and I have gotten that kind of feedback from students.”
Rolando Botello, a clinical psychology graduate student and program coordinator of the Behavioral Neuroscience Research Experience Camp, has worked closely as Ernst’s graduate assistant for two years.
“He is overall a great guy,” Botello said. “He really takes things to heart and he strives for the best. He’s really sociable and you can see it when he goes through, like, offices. Every single person he meets, he greets. He always brings something new to the table. He’s caring.”
“We both put our pants on one leg at a time” is the way Ernst likes to approach people in his life everywhere he goes.
Another piece of advice Ernst gave is, “Don’t ever change yourself, but do believe that pursuing the highest degree awardable in an academic environment, anyone can do [it] if they put their mind to it, work hard enough and be willing to sacrifice a lot of things.”
He has served as a mentor for Associate Professor Amy A. Weimer, associate dean for Student Academic Development and associate director of the Center for Bilingual Studies, for 12 years.
“He’s just the most optimistic person and that’s how he looks at life,” Weimer said. “He never misses a minute of it. His lived experience and his passion are greater than any instructor I’ve ever seen. When I’ve talked to students who know him, that’s all they can think about: how inspired they feel to go and change the field of psychology, but also the world.”
Weimer also described Ernst as an incredible mentor, a great listener, supportive, kindhearted, an intelligent scholar and an amazing instructor.
“What I think, especially this older generation of professors does best is to profess in the classroom,” Ernst said. “My final thought is that I will miss that—deeply.”
