By Carolina Tillotson
A big smile stretches across his face and his eyes light up as he enters the genetics class.
?It was a breath of fresh air to come to class,? Daniel Fairbanks, professor of genetics, says, as he purposefully draws in a deep breath and exhales loudly. ?I don?t think I could survive without this class. I hope it shows.?
His smile gets bigger. It spreads across the faces of the students in the room ? it?s almost contagious. For the previous three hours, Fairbanks had been attending training meetings for his new position as the dean of undergraduate education.
?Now, I want you to do a little mathematical exercise in your minds,? he says and proceeds to give a genetics problem to his students.
Although a genetics professor, Fairbanks? has talents that define him differently. His wife, Donna, and colleague, professor Eric Jellen, describe him as a Renaissance Man.
?He?s sort of a Renaissance Man, a daVinci,? said Jellen, an associate professor of chromosomal genetics. ?He?s a humanities guy born in a scientific mold.?
But Fairbanks has a passion ? a passion for teaching.
?The biggest challenge is I?m not going to teach as much as before,? he said. ?It?ll mean some changes.?
His students recognize his passion for the genetics.
?He is very friendly and personable, but I think the most important thing is that his enthusiasm about the subject is very encouraging,? said Eric Leavitt, a genetics student, from Spokane Valley, Wash. ?His enthusiasm promotes study.?
Students say they think he is a great teacher, but Fairbanks reciprocates those feelings to students.
?What impresses me most is their integrity,? he said. ?My impression from multiple experiences is that the integrity really shines through and couple that with academic quality, it?s a privilege and a joy to be a professor.?
In fact, Fairbanks? new position will severely curtail his teaching. As the new dean, he hopes to teach at least once a semester.
Jellen said Fairbanks would be missed in the department because he took on a heavier teaching schedule so other professors could mentor students and conduct research.
?It?s going to be a tremendous loss because Dan has been doing a lot of teaching ? more than the rest of us,? Jellen said. ?It?s going to be difficult to replace Dan for those sections of genetics he teaches.?
Not only does he teach, he also sculpts. He has sculpted multiple statues, many which are on campus, such as the Thomas Martin and John Widstoe statues. He also sculpted a cougar, copies of which are given as an award from the university. Currently he is working on four plaques for Eastern Arizona College, which will be placed on their bell tower, and a restoration project for the Springville Art Museum.
Between teaching, sculpting, and working on the Quinoa Research Project, a continuing 17-year research project, he finds time for his family. He and Donna have three sons. They met at BYU when they were finishing undergraduate degrees. Donna now teaches music at UVSC.
?He?s very supportive,? said Donna. ?He?s a gentle, kind and considerate person and wonderful to live with. He?s a great father. We have a son that is severely disabled. He?s incredibly patient and good with our son.?
Donna said the biggest challenge her husband faces is balancing his multiple interests and responsibilities.
Dedication to his family and love for teaching are two reasons Fairbanks almost didn?t take the position as dean, but his wife offered him strong support and encouragement.
With so many talents, his wife, colleagues and university officials said his broad understanding of multiple subjects makes him qualified for the position.
?Dan has broad intellectual interests and abilities which make him uniquely qualified to oversee general education and honors education,? said John S. Tanner, academic vice president, in a press release. ?He has talents in art, literature and languages as well as science.?
The general education department isn?t new to Fairbanks. In a summary of his accomplishments, posted on the BYU Biology and Agriculture Web Site, he also served as associate dean of undergraduate education and director of the University Honors Program. He has been involved in BYU general education for several years. He worked on the project that updated the general education requirements, a six-year project completed a year ago.
Because the general education requirements project recently ended, he said he doesn?t have any major plans for change, but he is working on his goals as dean.
?Now is the time to let those changes take effect,? he said. ?One of the great advantages of this ?college unit? is that it is in really good shape ? George Tate has taken it to a level higher?Things are going excellent.?
He said he hopes students will recognize the great opportunity they have in their general education to learn about many different subjects. He said his experience in undergraduate education built a wonderful foundation for his learning and encouraged students to let the learning extend beyond the classroom.
?It has to extend beyond the classroom,? he said. ?You don?t have to take classes to learn. Students continue to read?listen to the world?s great music, go to a Devotional, be aware of how science is affecting society. Really to have enough of an understanding to really participate in society is what a general education should do. not to make a hurdle for people to go over?My hope is that students grasp that. The opportunity is here to build on that foundation. I fear that too many students don?t grasp and capture the vision.?