By SARA GILES
giles@newsroom.byu.edu
After 29 years of leading students around the world and sharing his philosophies in the classroom, a BYU geography professor will give a farewell lecture about his experiences Thursday morning at 11 in 660 SWKT.
Professor Lloyd Hudman, who is retiring at the end of the month, has been an extremely influential figure in the geography department, said Richard Jackson, professor and department chair of geography.
'He has been my colleague and my friend. He is an example of someone who really cares about students and respects their abilities, expects them to do their best and prepares them to do their best,' Jackson said.
Hudman said he will focus his talk on three points. The first is the hand of the Lord and how the Lord uses elements to bring about his will to his people. The second emphasis of his talk will be the importance of forever being good learners. Finally, he will discuss the importance in the attitude of service in life. He said he will use his extensive experiences to illustrate each point.
He is an extensively published author and has been published in the top three tourism magazines in the world -- Tourism Management, Journalism of Travel Research and Annals of Tourism. He has also published numerous books. Although his published accomplishments are impressive, according to co-workers, his greatest skill are his people skills.
'He really cares about students and goes out of his way to help them. He was one of the major reasons I decided to go into geography,' said James Davis, associate professor of geography and a former student of Hudman's.
He also has gone out of his way to personally extend opportunities to students, said Mindy Rowe, administrative assistant in the geography department and a recent BYU graduate.
'He was the most influential person in my undergraduate career. He actually sought me out and let me know about an amazing internship experience. He really is an incredible person, not only a great teacher but a good friend. He really cares,' Rowe said.
Hudman said being director and associate director of many BYU Study Abroad trips ranging from Spain to England has helped him interact with students on a much more personal level and make new friends.
'It gives you a chance to travel and recognize the uniqueness of a place. It is thrilling to be exposed to that and to help students to be exposed to different parts of the world,' Hudman said.
Hudman said his main concern about retiring is not having the opportunity to interact with BYU students and the chances of increasing his number of friendships.
'Anywhere I travel in the world, I end up running into former students,' Hudman said.'
He also said he will miss the day to day interactions with the students at BYU.
'I'm excited every day to get to class and I am sad to leave every day,' Hudman said.
Hudman said he looks forward to focusing more on his research projects in his retirement and in the future would like to serve a family history or service mission with his wife.