August 2015
Fifty years ago, as they were leaving to attend a symphony performance at Northern Illinois University, Warren and Mary Ober’s phone rang. It was a dean from the University of Waterloo, offering Warren a chance to interview for the position of chair of Waterloo’s English Department. After a visit here with their three young sons, they headed to Waterloo and never looked back.
Over the years, in his roles as Chair of the English Department, Chair of the Building Committee for Hagey Hall and Acting Dean of Arts, Warren has made significant contributions to Waterloo. But the highlight of his career, he said, was being named Distinguished Teacher.
“I’d always felt that I wanted to be known as a fine teacher. People would say to me, ‘Professor Ober, you’re one of my favourite profs.’ But I knew in my heart that I hadn’t [got there] so I kept working on it and working on it. I did my very best. And finally, out of the blue, I was told I got a Distinguished Teaching Award, and I said to myself, ‘Well, I’m still fooling everybody, by I’ve finally got there!”
Teaching is a passion for Warren. His favourite course, on Arthurian legend, was one which he created. It was always crowded. He recalls that one year, in the last meeting of the course, he handed out a final exam outline, and received a few groans from his students. The outline contained a list of 10 essay questions, really complicated ones, of which three would appear on the final exam.
“I look at it now and think maybe I was expecting a little too much,” he laughs. As he gathered his belongings and turned to leave, he was stopped in his tracks. “I turned back and there was the whole class, giving me a standing ovation,” he said. “And I thought, my goodness – I sort of hid my tears. And after I had lowered the boom on them with that exam! That’s an event that means so much to me still. I loved teaching that course, every time I did it.”
Warren retired in 1994, but he maintains close connections to Waterloo. His 90th birthday party, held this past May, was even hosted on campus. And he and his wife Mary donate to the Keystone Campaign, funding areas that help students. Their contributions have been recognized with the naming of the Warren and Mary Ober Group Study Rooms in the Dana Porter Library and the Mary and Warren Ober Urgent Care Room at Health Services.
“I feel blessed at having had the opportunity of serving at this institution. For me personally, and for our family, the institution has been wonderful. Ideas start here – that is a very true motto, in keeping with the spirit that the institution started with. It’s where ideas start.”