Dennis McElroy, PhD

ABOUT

My passion is the lives that I touch on a daily basis. Sometimes this is during the interaction I have with students at Graceland. Other times those lives belong to people I’ve never met. They are the students of Graceland graduates. Those graduates have become teachers and I hope I have somehow influenced their beliefs and practices in some way that now influence their students.

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Years ago while I was a high school teacher I set a career goal for myself to “have a positive influence on as many students as I can.” Helping to prepare students to become teachers is the consummate method to do that. As Henry Adams stated, “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” That fuels my passion to teach.

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In addition to my teaching, I’m fortunate to be the Director of Technology for the Edmund J. Gleazer School of Education. I have poured my knowledge and efforts into creating and providing an amazing educational experience for our students that includes the myriad of ways technology is used in the educational process. In 2014 this culminated in seeing a dream come true...the GUniverse initiative. GUniverse is about inspiration. Creativity. Innovation. It is the merging of technology, pedagogy, and knowledge to create engaging educational experiences. Experiences that help prepare our students to be amazing teachers.

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As much as I love teaching, I also love music. Whenever I can, I spend my time playing bass in a variety of musical ensembles. I have a wonderfully eclectic taste in music. I enjoy playing rock, blues, jazz, country, and ragtime. I spend time in the recording studio and have been a part of several recordings by Grand River Crossing, Terre Haute, the JB Morrison Band and others. In 2013, I began dabbling in production and my first CD, “A Thousand Reasons to Smile” was a compilation of music from local artists with all proceeds going to support a family who’s daughter eventually succumbed to cancer.

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While music is the language of love, teaching is a love for others. Both are the notes to the tapestry of our lives. From an unknown author, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Teaching allows us to explore the universe, stretch the wings of our minds so that our imagination can dare to take flight and experience life.

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