Montgomery Picks Up Pace In Retirement
By Grant Lile
Lemke Ledger Staff
After 19 years of service to the University of Arkansas, Dr. Louise Montgomery has
finished one chapter in her life and started a new one.
Even though retirement to some may mean slowing down and taking life easy, Montgomery's
approach is to go full steam ahead and see and do as much as possible. There has been no
slowing down with her as she is keeping busy with many projects since she said farewell to the UA at the end of the 2008 fall semester.
After retiring from the Lemke
Journalism Department, Louise
Montgomery caught up on some
travel. — Photo provided
Montgomery still is helping several of her students complete their Master's thesis, and she has mentor relationships from Missouri to Washington, D.C., and even as far as Cairo, Egypt.
Whatever Montgomery's future has in store, she has left a void in the journalism department.
"Louise Montgomery has always been a champion of students. She takes a strong personal interest in students and their lives and constantly urges them toward opportunities and experiences that will lead them to see the world more widely," said Dr. Patsy Watkins, department chair and friend. "As a consequence, she has a legion of close friends among former students who she stays in touch with and continues to support with her positive encouragement and pride in their accomplishments."
Montgomery also has been traveling extensively throughout the country. When her final class ended, she left the following week for a six-week excursion. She spent it visiting several states, including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama. She also took a trip to Mexico.
She doesn't plan to stop there. Her travel plans included going back to Louisiana — New Orleans to be exact — for an investment seminar, which she hopes to attend with a former student who lives in New Orleans. She also plans to go to Jonkoping, Sweden, to visit a former student who is working on her MBA and to run in the Stockholm marathon. And a trip to Istanbul, Turkey, also is in the cards.
Montgomery said her dream retirement home would be a casita built with natural wood and lots of windows and open spaces on a rock overlooking the Pacific.
Montgomery's most important project though, is her book. She is planning to write a book about how the United States came to where it is today. She wants to tackle the five most important influences that bought change to the US: media, education, religion, economy and politics. Her book also will include what she calls the constants of history: racism and the embrace of technology.