THIBODAUX, La. — Walking into James Barnidge’s office, a couple towers of filing cabinets are there to greet you.
The cabinets hold the records of more than 33,000 past students.
“I hold the record for that,” said the 79-year-old Nicholls State University history professor. He’s nearly completed his 53rd year teaching at Nicholls, making him the first professor to surpass the 50-year mark.
Looking back over the past five decades, Barnidge said he’d taught the current district attorney for Lafourche Parish, two of Nicholls’ presidents, six priests and most of the lawyers in town.
“My doctor, my lawyer and my dentist are all ex-students of mine,” he said. “Luckily, they were good students.”
He’s accumulated countless awards for his work as a professor and in the community, he said.
However, instead of plastering his office walls with certificates and plaques, posters of different European landmarks cover the white paint.
“I’d rather put a picture of the Rhine here than an award,” he said, gesturing to his right toward a poster of the major European river winding its way through a countryside.
As a younger man, the Alexandria native said he’d never thought about teaching, even though his wife taught in the K-12 system.
In 1964, he graduated from Louisiana State University in New Orleans with a degree in economics and finance, and then worked for Kaiser Aluminum in Baton Rouge for a year before returning to college to earn a master’s in history. He continued to work not only for Kaiser but the city’s United Way while in college.
After earning his master’s, Barnidge said he still was uncertain about teaching but decided to take a leap by accepting the position at Nicholls in 1966. He hasn’t looked back since.
“I don’t think there’s been a day of my life that I didn’t want to come to work,” he said.
One of his greatest accomplishments started in 1974 -- Nicholls’ Europe program. Each summer, he’s taken a growing number of students, their families and residents to Europe to learn about history.
“History comes alive whenever you’re there,” said Barnidge. “It’s one thing to lecture about the Roman Forum, to be in the Coliseum is different.”
Plus, he’s always looking for ways to expose his students to the rest of the world and other cultures.
He fondly recalled a conversation with a parent after taking a student on the trip.
“What have you done to my son?” the parent asked Barnidge over the phone.
The student had returned from the program with a new interest in architecture and classical music. His parent was astonished.
Those experiences are the most rewarding as a professor, said Barnidge.
“That’s passing it on,” he said.
In both his work and volunteering, he’s sought to give back to the community.
Even though he officially retired in 2005, Barnidge knew a hiring freeze at Nicholls meant that 450 would be without a professor that year. So, he stayed on, working for free and still hasn’t left.
Nor does he have plans to fully retire until the time comes when he’s no longer an effective professor.
The three-time winner of a local speaker of the year award said he thinks it’s sad when teachers retire. Usually, he said, they’re at the peak of their career.
“It’s a shame for them to cut it off and keep all that knowledge with them until they die,” he said.
But he’ll continue to lecture for the foreseeable future.
“I can’t sit home and do nothing,” he said.
Staff Writer Halle Parker can be reached at 857-2204 or hparker@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @_thehalparker.
