Technical Staff Associate, Department and Chemistry Biochemistry
Meet George McDonald Technical Staff Associate, Department and Chemistry Biochemistry Length of Service at UT Dallas: 23 years (started September 1998)
What's your favorite spot on campus? I like the spot east of Green Hall. It is open, grassy with trees and a gurgling brook. Yes, the parking lots are to the east, but it is still peaceful, and the parking lots offer a long open vista.
What's the best part of your job? Helping people solve equipment problems. Achieving a solution, especially with a difficult problem, is gratifying.
Which holiday is your favorite? Thanksgiving. Many people leave a little early, the campus gets quiet and there is anticipation of the holiday festivities.
What is your favorite season and why? Spring – everything turning green, the many blossoms, the sense of renewal make this especially pleasing. There used to be many “wild” plots of land on campus with exquisite displays of wild flowers (aka weeds) lasting ‘til June. Unfortunately, most of those are now manicured lawns.
Tell us something people don't know/would surprise people. I like sailboat racing. I mostly sail on Grapevine Lake but I have sailed in three Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara races, one San Francisco to Santa Barbara race, on Lake Travis, on Lake Tahoe, Lake Dillon, several Texas O ffshore Racing Circuit races in the Gulf from Port Aransas to Galveston including one where the wind hit 90 mph on Galveston Island, dislodging a hangar roof at the airport. Of the approximately 300 boats entered, eight finished including mine.
Where's your go- to place for food/drink on campus? Starbucks – for coffee. For food, this has changed with circumstances. For a time last summer Taco Bell Cantina was the only food available on campus; t hey offer a really good beef burrito. N ow I frequent Panda Express, Chick-fil-A and enjoy an occasional bagel (honey wheat or blueberry toasted with a cream cheese smear) from Einstein Bros. Bagels.
What’s your favorite memory/experience on campus? I have several:
Snowstorm of 2010: There was a large open field near the old Alexander Clark Center and Hoblitzelle Hall between Frankly n Je nifer Drive and Drive H. Thirty to 40 students hurled, snowballs, built several behemoth well- decorated snowmen, a snow castle with three dogs.
In the same field, a cooling water pipe leaked slowly, developing a standing pond, maybe 50 feet in diameter. Walking to Berkner Hall in the morning, I would often see multiple ducks. Several egrets occasionally dropped in, and a blue heron made a cameo appearance. The pond lasted several weeks until I showed former facilities worker Sam Eicke a photo of it. He demanded to know its location. Later that afternoon, several Facilities Management folks were all seen staring down at the water from the pond edge.
In the same field, the astronomy club hosted a viewing of the transit of Mercury. Multiple telescopes with clock drive holding orientation, several video cameras with public display monitor and even some pin hole view boxes were on hand. Mercury was a black dot, about the size of a period in this text on the face of the sun. I could actually detect it’s migration across the sun. OK – I did not actually view Mercury, just saw its shadow. That is the only time in my life I’ve knowingly come close to seeing Mercury. The event attracted a good crowd.
How long is your commute? Fifty minutes (21 miles) in the morning driving through Garland and Richardson from Mesquite. At the end of the day I like to feel like I’m flying on President George Bush Turnpike (26 miles in about 35 minutes).
What advice would you give to someone who is new on campus? Break out of your office, get to know some people you see frequently: the guards, Facilities Management folks, housekeepers, people who walk the halls for exercise. These perfunctory conversations are quite enjoyable.