Rae Mellichamp
Emeritus Professor, Alabama
Faculty Commons National Representative
Two events stand out as incredibly bad during my 25-year career in academia. Last week I described the first event – being kicked out of my dean’s office during my second year as a professor. The second event occurred 10 years later.
I had by then been promoted to full professor, was doing research and directing our graduate school. Our department chair resigned, and I sensed that the Lord was leading me to apply for the position. Soon I was named interim chair.
Destined To Become Chair
Things went well. My department was allocated several new faculty positions, the teaching loads were decreased, and I was able to increase salaries. Personally I received substantial research funding and had a couple of articles published in top quality management science journals. I felt destined to become permanent chair.
Shortly after this my three best friends in the department launched a campaign against my candidacy for the permanent chair position. The dean called me in and said, “I don’t understand what is going on. You are obviously the best candidate for the position, but they don’t want you as the permanent guy.”
After a search, they brought in someone from outside as chair. He was well qualified for the position, but I was crushed and hurt that my friends had “done me in.” I really thought that the Lord needed Christian administrators, and that He would enable me to secure this position. Could God really use this situation for good?
Several months later I was one of three professors selected for a task force. We guided the university’s involvement in a research agreement with General Motors. The agreement eventually lasted 11 years and brought in $500,000 in research funding.
This led to refereed articles in top journals, technical publications, conference presentations — plus support through my research contracts for a dozen Ph.D. students. Had I been serving as department chair, there is no way I would ever have been tapped for the project.
Either Bitter Or Trusting
When I looked at what was happening in my career, I began to feel toward my departmental colleagues as Joseph felt toward his brothers after they had sold him into slavery. He told them: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” [Genesis 50:20]
My denial of a chair position wasn’t in any way close to the suffering Joseph experienced, but I saw that I still faced the same choice of either being bitter, or of trusting God when wronged by others.
Each of us will encounter unexpected turbulence in our career, personal relationships, or finances. God can take these times, in even the bleakest of circumstances, and turn them to good.
(c) 2006 Joseph McRae Mellichamp