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A League of His Own

By D'Lyn Ford '97

Professor and alum Lowell Catlett delights students with his lectures on subjects ranging from Thomas Jefferson to agricultural economics

Jefferson, best known as the nation's third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, was an expert in many fields.

"Jefferson was a polymath - a genius," Catlett says. "To know Jefferson is to know something about wine, food, agriculture, astronomy, literature and architecture."

To know Catlett is to know an agricultural economist, a teacher par excellence and Regents Professor whose classes are full an hour after registration opens. He's an expert on options and futures markets, a dynamic speaker who enthralls audiences around the world, and a futurist who consults with Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Agriculture, Interior, Defense and Labor departments.

Most recently, Catlett has earned a reputation as a Jefferson scholar. He teaches "The Natural World of Thomas Jefferson," an Honors College course with a creative twist: Class members write essays and poems for a book about Jefferson.

"Jefferson wrote at least 18,000 letters but only one book, and it was self-published, which was typical of the day," Catlett says. His 2003 Jefferson class wrote A Free Mind, also self-published. The 2004 class book, At the Dawn of Day, is in production. Each student receives two copies, and royalties go toward an honors scholarship.

Catlett, who has been interested in Jefferson for most of his life, took a sabbatical in 1998 to do research at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies near Jefferson's home, Monticello, then developed the Honors College class.

He says focusing on Jefferson gives students a reference point to help them understand a pivotal time in history. "We have to make history important to students if we want them to value it. Because Jefferson is my anchor, they learn about the time in which he lived and remember more about how the country was formed. I struggle as a teacher to find a way to engage students."

That struggle has earned Catlett rave reviews from students and every teaching award the university offers, including the Westhafer, NMSU's highest honor, and selection as a Regents Professor in 2002.

"The problem all along has been getting a room big enough for him," says Jim Libbin, a colleague, collaborator and friend since 1975. "He's in a league of his own in his ability to connect and communicate with students."

Catlett, who also teaches agricultural economics and finance classes, discovered his passion for teaching as a graduate assistant at NMSU. After completing his doctorate at Iowa State, he returned to Las Cruces to take a full-time faculty position in 1978.

"I just flat loved it," he says. "I loved the campus environment. I loved everything about it." Thirty years after Catlett taught his first 100-level class, students still love his approach.

Though they may not be aware of it, students benefit from Catlett's roles as a corporate consultant and speaker, which take him to corporate board rooms and executive offices. Those connections bring expert speakers to NMSU, such as Blas Peña '85 '88, a derivatives trader for Shell Oil.

As a futurist, Catlett looks for creative ways to use technology in teaching. "Distance education technology could allow Blas Peña to stay in Houston, for example, and teach a third of the class," he says, adding that he hopes NMSU will expand the approach. "The university can be richer by tapping talent wherever it may be."

Catlett's career as a futurist was born out of frustration with forecasting in his own profession. He dove into technology and demographics to improve his own skills, and found that audiences could relate to his animated forecasts.

Students find lively discussions and refreshments in every Catlett class. He passes a candy jar in a large seminar room or provides doughnuts and the occasional pizza for lunchtime classes on Jefferson at a boardroom table.

He brings Jefferson memorabilia to inspire the class: handwriting samples, volumes from his own collection of Jefferson books and a compass from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

"He's wide open to what students want to learn," says Ashley Cline '03 '04, who has taken Catlett's undergraduate finance, graduate futures and options, and Jefferson honors classes. "It's a very open classroom compared with traditional lectures because of his style and his stories."

Some of those stories involve family, including Joni Gutierrez, a state representative, landscape architect and Catlett's wife of 21 years.

Often, he tells about his ranch upbringing on the Texas Panhandle. Though the sandstorms were fierce, the night skies offered a clear view of the Milky Way.

"I think people who grew up on the Great Plains have no known horizons or boundaries," Catlett says. His interest in astronomy persists to this day, and he folds his lanky frame into a bright yellow convertible that offers a view. His other weaknesses include cats, dogs and the Chicago Cubs.

Catlett says one of the first teachers who inspired him never set foot in a classroom. He was the janitor at Texline Public Schools, who cooked sausages on the steam boiler near the gym.

Drawn by the aroma, hungry kids stopped by for a bite of sausage and a story from the World War II veteran. "I remember him and his generosity and his stories," Catlett says. "Teachers come in all forms."

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