The End of an Era: I Am Hanging Up My Professor Robes Soon

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

 – Chinese Proverb

When I was a young man, I thought I was going to be a professor. I had a full graduate scholarship and stipend to attend Washington University in St. Louis and get a PhD in Political Science. They were in the top 10 Poli Sci programs back then and I figured I could get a teaching job at some mid-ranked university. But I was a little bored, and I missed my college girlfriend whom I later married. So, I quit with a master’s degree, came back to Washington, DC, worked  for two years, and then went to GWU law school. As my wife reminded me the other day, I couldn’t have gone to law school without her support. And one thing I am sure of, looking back through the years, is I made a better lawyer than professor.

However, life is a big circle. It turned out that I fulfilled my professorial interests by becoming an adjunct in the 1980’s at GWU co-teaching a course in Federal Labor Standards. That course led to a quirky series for seminars  for Federal Publications (“FedPub”). My mentor, Gil Ginsburg, who was pivotal to my advancement, brought me to some meetings with Henry Kaiser, the founder and owner of Federal Publications. I remember they referred to me as “the kid”, albeit I was age 29 by then. Gil and I started to co-teach a series of seminars – Calculating Loss of Efficiency Claims, the Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, the FLSA, Pricing of Claims,  and Wage and Hour Compliance. I travelled most of the major US cities teaching  on Federal Publications’ tab. The SCA and DBA courses endured. The SCA seminar was the best attended Federal Publication hit, with attendance at the inaugural seminar breaching the 200 people threshold and requiring a change of venue.

Well, it has been a long 41-year largely continuous run, but I have decided to hang the instructor part up here in 2026. Tomorrow, I will teach my last virtual seminar for FedPub. And this summer I will teach my last in-person live session. All things must pass. I suppose if FedPub still paid its instructors like Mr. Kaiser did, I might labor on, but if the idea is that I am planting business development seeds for the future, well as George Allen said about the Redskins, “the future is now” at least for me.

I am grateful for the opportunity to teach so many folks over 41 years. To all my students, I say thank you.