Tom Schirmacher

What’s your life like outside of RIT?
I am wild. I don’t know how people get bored. I have so many interests and there are so many things I want to do. I do an annual hand-drawn Christmas light which is why a lot of people in town know me. I love baseball and all kinds of sports. I’m a terrible golfer, but I still like it because I like people and I like to be outdoors. I started a military history club 13 years ago and we meet every month. We’ve got people from World War II vintage and current veterans. I love to read. I usually have eight books going at a time. I’m just nuts. I love everything.

As Chair for the first ever Imagine RIT Innovation Festival, are there any plans of improving it for next year?
We haven’t even de-briefed yet. The whole committee will get together and say, “Okay, this is what happened. We could’ve done this a little better. We could’ve moved this food site here....” You know, we’ll learn from it. The mega question is: “Do you do the exact same thing over again?” Probably not. We got a lot of suggestions for a two-day event. Then making it longer was another suggestion — start at nine in the morning and go until either six or seven at night.

Now that Imagine RIT is over, what’s your latest project?
Oh, it never stops. I run the Liberty Hill breakfast series for President Destler, and I’ve done it 16 years for President Simone, too. And then we’re already rolling right into this annual event called the “Retirees Picnic,” where we invite all retired faculty and staff back to campus, throw a picnic for them, and have awards. I’ve been doing that about 11 years. It’s like a big homecoming for them. Next week, we’ll start planning for next year’s [Innovation] Festival.

I just noticed that you have a brace on your foot. What happened?
I got a stress fracture below my ankle about 10 days before the Innovation Festival, but I couldn’t do anything about it because I had to stay focused. I was a medic in the Army, and so I taped it up. Then the day after the festival, I knew I really had to do something about it.

Did you serve overseas in the Army?
I trained as a combat medic. I got orders for Vietnam, but then they changed my orders for Fort Sam Houston [in San Antonio, Texas] and I became an Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist. I worked a little bit in the Napalm Ward and the Burn Unit at Brooke hospital. Then I got orders again for Vietnam, but they cancelled them because they wanted someone whose status was only a combat medic. And then I got orders a third time, but by then I had switched to Mental Hygiene. The experience inspired me to do the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial of Greater Rochester in Highland Park.

I see that you have been honored for much of your work with the Veteran’s Memorial.
Yeah, probably more than I should have because we did that all with no paid staff. We raised 1.5 million dollars over 10 years, and designed and built it. I can tell you that I got a lot more than I ever deserved. When they named September 9 “Barry Culhane Day” in both the county and the city, it surprised the heck out of me. That was when we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the Memorial.

So what brought you to RIT?
I got out of the service and I was running a clinic at Strong for pediatrics and psychology. I was going to school to get my doctorate when someone said to me, “Have you heard of this place, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)? They’re looking for a part-time researcher.” So I said, “Well, I’m getting close to my dissertation. I’ll go out and take a look at it.” The next thing I knew — that was April of 1974 — I started work here. Then I got drawn in more and more. I went very quickly from being a research faculty member to a department chair. Then I became a director, and then associate dean, and then I was hooked and ended up getting 10 years as a faculty member.

Barry Culhane and assistant Heather Dry.
Tom Schirmacher

What’s your typical day consist of?
Usually I’ll get up at five, five-thirty. When I have a whole ankle, I’ll usually exercise. I lift weights or try and get some cardio in. Often I’ll have a seven-thirty or eight o’clock meeting with something related to RIT. Then I’m just sort of kind of back-to-back with different activities. What’s nice is that every day I get a new assignment. I like the variety and I get a chance to interact a lot directly with students. I spend a lot of time meeting new students and saying, “Hey, if something happens or you need something, give me a call.” And they do. Usually when there’s a problem, but that’s okay.

Where do you see your future at RIT?
I really have this desire to...go back to the classroom and teach because that’s how I started. I love teaching. I love working with our students. I’m old enough now where I’ve got something to share. I’ve tried to teach Senior Seminar every couple of years. They like when I do it because I don’t ask for any money. I do it because I like to and there’s a bond that forms in a classroom that is unique.