MaryLou Wogan, longtime, beloved Klamath Community College math instructor retires

Longtime Klamath Community College faculty instructor Mary Lou Wogan was still grading papers in her office on her last day of work. She retired this month, after 27 years of math instruction at the college.

And while there are heaps of praise for her work with students from her peers, she humbly says it is the students’ hard work that makes them successful, not the teacher.

Wogan was so popular among the student body, that students would try to register for her classes early, because they would fill up, her colleagues say.

“It is not the subject, it is the helping of the student that’s important,” she said recently. “When they finally find success in what they are learning, they think it’s the teacher, not themselves, but it is really themselves.”

She was recently awarded the Deanna Conner Community College award. This statewide award honors the contribution of an Oregon Education Association member who has had a positive impact on the advocacy of Oregon Community Colleges.

“Mary Lou is one of those instructors who changes people’s lives,” said KCC President Dr. Roberto Gutierrez. “What she does has a ripple effect in the community. She is part of that KCC legacy.”

A love of teaching sprouts

A Klamath Falls native, graduate of the former Sacred Heart High School, she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Science in Education from Southern Oregon University.

Wogan did not think she would return to the Basin to put down roots.

“I had joined the Peace Corps and worked with women in Kenya and East Africa. I taught sewing, helped put in water cisterns, and worked on food preservation. It was there that I had my first teaching experience and found that I loved it.”

Upon her return to the U.S., she took a job in international banking in Seattle, but disliked it.

“I couldn’t make anything balance,” she said with a laugh. She decided to get her teaching credentials and started looking around for work.

Turns out, if she worked in a rural area, such as Klamath Falls, for three years she could have her student loans forgiven. After a teaching stint at Mazama High School, and starting a family with her husband, Cameron Wogan, she joined KCC in 1997 while it was in its infancy, teaching night classes and caring for their children during the day.

Since then, her work has been nothing short of a legacy. Here are some highlights about her tenure at the college:

• Wogan was the 6^th longest-term fulltime employee of the college;
• She worked under all four college presidents;
• 3,760 people have taken a class from Wogan;
• 1,000 have taken a class from her and earned a degree;
• And 16,695 credits have been earned by her students, the most of all faculty at KCC.

“I’m just a low-level math teacher but I’ve been listened to, I’ve been respected. That says a lot of the culture at KCC. It is that everyone feels they have a voice here,” she said.

She is known for her work ethic, her fierce defense of the faculty, and her love of students in helping them succeed.

One of her fears is seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected teaching in the lower grades.

“Schools were not able to pivot to remote learning like we did at KCC,” she said. “We may be paying for that for quite a while. Math is a subject that builds on itself. If you don’t have the basics, a lot of the other stuff is not going to make sense.”

Accolades abound

Wogan has received a host of accolades over the years, but the most recent one this month was the statewide Deanna Conner Community College Award from the Oregon Education Association. Wogan was nominated by Klamath Community College Faculty Association President and fellow faculty member, Dr. Jeremy Huston, who wrote:

“Mary Lou is an outstanding member of KCCFA who has made a significant positive impact here in Klamath Falls. She helped organize the first faculty union here at KCC and has since served in numerous roles, including grievance chair, PAC committee member, and as a mentor to numerous faculty over the years. She is well known among local education unions and within other community college unions for her advocacy, outreach, and commitment to caring for, defending, and helping others.”

For more information about KCC and its programs, visit www.klamathcc.edu.