Jerry Holt
- Assistant Professor of English
Ohio’s loss is our gain. Dr. Jerry Holt brings a wealth of accolades, experience and passion for writing to his new teaching position. Receiving both a Master’s and Ph.D. in English from the University of Oklahoma and a B.S. in English and Journalism from Oklahoma State University, Holt is happiest in the classroom. Now retired from administration, he was a dean for 30 years at Antioch University McGregor, Shawnee State University and Central Ohio Technical College before arriving at Purdue University North Central last fall to teach. In these previous positions, he always found time to teach American and British Literature, Film or Interdisciplinary Studies.
Jerry Holt has been a national nominee for the CASE Teaching Award. He was nominated twice for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers. According to the awarding body, Baylor University in Texas, “Individuals nominated … should have a proven track record as an extraordinary teacher with a positive, inspiring, and long-lasting effect on students, along with a record of distinguished scholarship.”
While at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, one of the oldest mandated interdisciplinary institutions in the country, Holt was three-time winner of the Regents' Award for Outstanding Teaching. In 1996, he was named one of 40 Outstanding Community Leaders in the nation for his lifelong commitment to serving diverse populations.
A fine storyteller, Holt is an award winning novelist and playwright. His play, “Rickey,” tells the story of baseball guru Branch Rickey's friendship with Jackie Robinson and has been performed across the United States. It was chosen by Columbus Alive for its 2003 Outstanding Drama Award. Geoff Nelson, whom Holt claims is a “dead ringer for Rickey,” received the acting award.
Holt hopes to get students excited about writing--and about the interactive process of learning by “offering the best classes I can at PNC as long as the university will have me.” This writer is inspired by William Faulkner, “the person who did it best”, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and Ross MacDonald. “All of us long to be a child again. Even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.” This favorite quote is from Sam Peckinpah's film, “The Wild Bunch,” 1969.
A “dark” defining moment for Holt was the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. “That was my home—literally the steps where on summer afternoons as a child I waited for my father to emerge from his job with the telephone company. The tragedy taught me a lot about what lasts and what doesn't.”
Stage credits besides “Rickey” include “An Evening with Julia Marlowe,” a one person show based on the life of renowned Shakespearian actress, Julia Marlowe; “Beside A River, Long Ago,” another one person show based on the life of Thomas Waller, southern Ohio’s first physician; "Boarding--A Love Story," winner in the CATCO “Shorts” Competition, a national festival for short plays, 2002. Set in the Columbus, Ohio airport and written post 9/11, the story is about a traveler suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. Symptoms exacerbated by the terrorist attacks, he cannot board his flight before counting every waiting room object touching the floor. “Smoking Room,” winner in the CATCO “Shorts” Competition, 2004; “Merely Players,” won the CATCO “Shorts” Competition, 2006; “Woody,” a full-length play based on the life of Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes is still in tryouts.
Holt spoke recently at the home town of Neil Armstrong at the “Summer Moon Festival,” celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first moon walk. His topic was “1969, Year Like No Other.”
Dr. Holt proudly speaks of his three sons and one daughter who lead colorful lives.
He writes in his free time.
