Inspiring professor passes on

By Andrea Engle
Editor

On August 25, 2009, adjunct Business professor, Howard Dorenkott passed away due to liver and kidney failure.



Dorenkott had been a professor at LCCC for 20 years. According to Robert Young, Dean of Business Division. No one in the department even knew that he was sick.

“We had thought that he looked skinny, almost too skinny, but had no idea that he was sick,” said Young. His end of semester surveys showed how good a teacher Dorenkott was. Each survey had between 10 and 15 comments on them.

“Howard was a fun guy but stuck to his standards in class. While he did not give his grades away, he always gave his students the benefit of the doubt,” said Young.

Dorenkott mostly taught Business Administration courses. These classes included management, entrepreneurship and human resources.

There ware common themes among students who filled out the end of semester evaluations: Dorenkott was the best teacher that they had ever had and that they would take as many of his classes as they could.

Some of the comments that could be found in these evaluations are:

“He makes me want to start my own business, way cool.”

“Mr. Dorenkott is a great teacher. He is very knowledgeable in his field and passes that knowledge down to his students in a very effective manners. He is cautious, courteous communicator, very respectful and kind.”

“What I enjoyed most about the class was the class discussions. The professor was very good at letting everybody have a chance to communicate.”

Young could not believe the numerous comments that Dorenkott had.

“I don’t know how he did it but somehow he always got students to write a lot of comments about him,” said Young.

Outside of LCCC, Dorenkott had a big family with a wife, children and grandchildren. Young said one of Dorenkott’s favorite things to do was to ride his motorcycle to school. Sometimes, when it was nice out, he drove an old Buick that was in mint condition.

Many of his students enjoyed his classes and it was clear that Dorenkott had a lasting impression on his students.