An Exceptional Career

Photo by Brian Bierley

Fall 2022 was De Witt S. Dykes’ final semester before retiring after more than five decades teaching at Oakland University. His long-standing career has had a tremendous impact on the university, faculty, students and the broader community.

Derek Hastings, associate professor of history, worked with Dykes for 19 years. Hastings describes Dykes as incredibly committed to his students. “He has also been an exceptional colleague throughout the years,” Hastings says. “When I first arrived at OU, he was one of the most helpful colleagues in making me feel included and valued within the History Department.”

Hastings also recalls hearing from alumni who were greatly affected by Dykes. One such alum was Nancy Zimmelman Lenoil, CAS ’83, former State Archivist of California. “She couldn't stop talking about the impact De Witt had on her as an undergraduate history student,” he says. “She could still quote verbatim from his lectures after several decades.”

Another former student, Rosaline Boone, CAS ’75 and SEHS ’92, is a retired educator and fondly remembers Dykes’ inspiring courses. “He instilled in me the desire to visit the African continent, which I did in the ’90s,” she says.

Kenneth Hreha, CAS ’02, says he is indebted to Dykes for his dedication in teaching. “When I was a student of Professor Dykes’, his highly esteemed and mild-mannered educational impact on my life has been tremendous in helping to understand and bridge the racial divide,” he says. 

Working with Dykes for 33 years, Sean Moran, associate professor of history, believes Dykes’ greatest asset as a colleague and as a teacher was his patience and his ever-present quiet calm. “I will always think of him as the sensible center of things,” Moran says.

Read more about Dykes’ accomplishments in Contributing to History.