A college professor performs many roles: teacher, researcher, author, adviser and recruiter, to name a few. Gregory Triplett, associate professor of engineering and associate director of the Honors College at the University of Missouri in Columbia, is passionate about investing in students. He takes his role as mentor seriously.
“Technology is a tool, but people are where we should always invest our time and effort,” says Triplett, adding that he never regrets time spent encouraging and supporting students.
“It’s putting a person in their sweet spot – that place where our students can operate at a high level,” Triplett says.
This conviction led Triplett to successfully petition the National Science Foundation for scholarship dollars. Since then, the College of Engineering has awarded nearly $450,000 from the federal agency to academically talented students, helping them stay in school and graduate.
As director of undergraduate studies in MU’s electrical and computer engineering department, Triplett sees the scholarship program as a key factor in student retention because it allows future engineers to pursue their studies without being as concerned about college debt.
“If you were to create the perfect job, it would be going out and recruiting the best and brightest, the up-and-coming, to your institution, and then being able to say, ‘You can do whatever you want here.’ That would be the best job ever because it’s all from the heart, and it’s all authentic,” Triplett says.
In addition to teaching and counseling students, Triplett researches photonics and is developing infrared sensors for scientific, medical and defense applications. At the Honors College, he is part of a team of faculty and staff that provides challenging classes and extracurricular options for about 2,500 high-ability Mizzou students.
Triplett says his own college mentor redirected him and helped boost his academic performance by getting to the heart of matters quickly and consistently. Today he incorporates that style while building strong individual relationships with students.
“Sometimes people need a cheerleader and sometimes they need to hear what they don’t want to hear,” Triplett says. “It’s about going with your gut. You can’t treat everyone the same, but you can be fair.”
Triplett has taught engineering courses at MU since 2004 and has been associated with the Honors College since 2012. His commitment to students has earned him numerous awards, including a William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2010. Triplett earned a bachelor’s degree at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, a master’s degree at Florida State University and a doctorate at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
