Background, Education, and Teaching Experience
I was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1956 and attended the Sherwood city schools through the 9th grade. In the 10th grade I entered Memphis University School, from which I graduated in 1974. During junior high school and high school I became somewhat of a science and math "nerd" and developed interests in chemistry, ham radio, and telecommunications. I also became very interested in mathematics and tried to teach myself math from library books, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. During this time, most people knew me as Dolph Belton rather than Frederick. My interest in mathematics and science led me to major in Electrical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where I obtained by B.S. degree. After graduation in 1979 I worked for United Inter-Mountain Telephone Company in Bristol, TN, and during the 80's was employed as an engineer for the U.S. Air Force at Griffiss AFB in upstate New York and at Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, Germany. After deciding to abandon engineering as a career for reasons described below, I obtained an M.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Memphis in 1995.
After working as an adjunct instructor at the University of Memphis and at Shelby State Community College, I obtained full-time employment at Shelby State Community College, where I began to specialize in teaching developmental math. Each semester I also taught college level classes such as calculus, statistics, and computer literacy. I discovered that I did not have to be teaching advanced math to enjoy teaching; any level of math became interesting and challenging teaching for me.
From 1998-1999 I taught developmental math at the College of the Marshall Islands on Majuro Atoll in the mid Pacific, and then returned to Memphis and obtained a position as a developmental math instructor in the Transitional Academic Studies Department at the University of Memphis. In the meantime, my wife Debby became employed at Temple University in Philadelphia. In 2001 we finally decided it was time to solve the problem of living in different cities, so we both moved to Nashville, TN. As of Fall 2009 I am teaching in the Academic Enrichment Department at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN, and Debby is working on a Ph.D. in instructional technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Travel
My desire to travel and to pursue related activities such as hiking, "volcano chasing," and snorkeling has been a dominant influence in my life. I have spent a total of at least 8 years traveling in approximately 100 foreign countries and the United States. If asked what my goal of travel is at this time in my life, I would say it is to visit the most unusual and spectacular natural features in the world, preferable in remote areas with few visitors. I especially enjoy expedition type travel. Possibly my favorite trip ever was in 1994 when I spent 3 months in Iceland and walked alone across the Interior Highlands and the Hornstrandir penninsula. Since 1997 I have been extremely interested in Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania and have made 12 trips there, both independently and as an expedition organizer.
I made my first international trip in 1975 (the summer after my freshman year at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville), spending 5 weeks traveling by train and hitch-hiking through Scandinavia and Britain. In 1977 I made a 6 month trip through Scotland and West Africa, which included a visit to Timbuktu and a south to north crossing of the Sahara desert. The travel in Africa was very difficult but very exciting, and it stirred my interest in Third World travel. Just after graduating from the University of Tennessee I traveled to Venezuela for one month in order to visit Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall. All of those trips were made while I was a student and had very little money, but were made possible by my use of cost cutting measures such as hitch-hiking, frequent "wild camping" outside of official campsites, cooking food bought in supermarkets rather than eating in restaurants, and staying in youth hostels and very cheap hotels.
After working for 3 years as an electrical engineer for a telephone company in Bristol, Tennessee, I resigned and used my savings to set out on a trip that lasted for 3 years. I referred to this as a "world trip" because it involved circling the globe and traveling for many months in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, plus several Pacific Islands. This trip was solo because my girlfriend Debby (who I later married) was working in Switzerland and Germany during that time.
After this trip I was able to find a
new job as an electrical engineer with the U.S. Air Force at Griffiss
Air
Force Base in upstate New York. My work involved frequent trips
around
the eastern U.S. and to Europe. After about 3 years I was
promoted
to a position in Wiesbaden, Germany. Although I traveled
constantly
for my job and made numerous hiking trips and visits to regions all
over
Europe, I still longed to make another "world trip." That was
accomplished
in the spring of 1990, when, after getting married in January, Debby
and
I both resigned from our jobs and set out on another 3 year trip around
the world. After returning in 1993 I discovered that it was no longer
very
easy to find a job as an engineer, and since I had always liked
mathematics
and tutoring, decided to take up a career in teaching. As a
teacher
my salary is much lower than it was as an engineer, but I enjoy
teaching and have now struck a balance between career and travel. I
now travel every summer and many Christmas breaks, sometimes with and
sometimes
without Debby. During the past few years most trips have
been to the western USA, the Middle East, and East Africa. We
hope to visit the Caribbean during Christmas 2009.
My most potentially serious 'travel disaster" to date happened in
May 2008 when I ignored a state department travel warning and flew to
Beirut to hike the Lebanon
Mountain Trail. The 2008
conflict in Lebanon started less than 24 hours after I left Beirut
to begin the hike in Qbaiyat village in northern Lebanon.
Widespread fighting forced me to abandon the hike after 5 days and to
hole up for another two days in a hotel in East Beirut until the road
to Damascus opened, making it possible to escape by bus into Syria.
Below are pictures of Debby and our 5 cats.
Debby
Mandu
Willow
Tallulah Demonspawn
Oscar Wild (with a mouse he caught moments earlier)
Yud