FlipSide Face – Dave Camwell

FlipSide+Face+-+Dave+Camwell

by Julia Robinson

Imagine driving all the way from Oregon to Iowa. Now imagine that it is July and you have no air conditioning in your car. That is exactly what Professor Dave Camwell’s first journey to Simpson was like six years ago.

“It’s a good thing I liked it here!” Camwell said.

Camwell is no stranger to traveling though. He was born in Whelan Garden City in the United Kingdom and moved to Calgary, Canada when he was seven.

“We moved in November of 1984, which was the beginning of the coldest Canadian weather in 30 years” Camwell said. “Great timing!”

Camwell also traveled all across the United States to attend college, earning undergraduate degrees at the University of Calgary and Jacksonville State University, two masters degrees at the University of Northern Colorado and finally his doctorate at the University of Oregon.

Camwell came to Simpson straight out of graduate school and received his doctorate two years later. He has nothing but positive things to say about his teaching career at Simpson thus far.

“I enjoy working with students that practice diligently,” Camwell said. “It is such a joy to be a small part of their development while here at Simpson.”

Sophomore Nella Thomas is a student in Camwell’s woodwind methods class and says Camwell knows how to make his class “interesting and fun.”

“In woodwinds methods pretty much everyone is a beginner,” Thomas said. “Professor Camwell is great at helping the class figure out our problems, while still being able to laugh at how ‘amazing’ we sometimes sound.”

One of Camwell’s favorite classes to teach though is the jazz ensemble.

“I really enjoying working with the jazz ensemble; we have a great time,” Camwell said. “I occasionally tell some moderately interesting stories during rehearsals, (and) the students are very patient with me.”