‘Doc Rock,’ shaper of student life at the University of Iowa, bids adieu

IOWA CITY - Although Tom Rocklin last week packed up his office and said goodbye to the university he has served and shaped for three decades, 'Doc Rock” will maintain a presence nearby - both literally and symbolically.

Outside the Iowa Memorial Union, where Rocklin for years has kept his office, sits a large rock with a 'Doc Rock” placard. As for Rocklin himself, he's sticking around Iowa City and doesn't have big retirement plans.

'People expect me to,” he said. 'But my plan is to be retired. I want to spend at least an hour or two a day - during the day - reading. I haven't done that for years and years and years.”

He's been busy.

Since arriving on the UI campus in 1986, Rocklin - among other things - has served as professor, founding director of the UI Center for Teaching, chairman of the Division of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, interim associate provost for faculty development, senior associate provost for undergraduate education, dean of the University College, vice provost, and - most recently - vice president for student life.

His legacy includes improving collaboration across organizational boundaries and launching the student success initiatives behind Iowa's first-year seminars, orientation programming, supplemental instruction and alcohol intervention and prevention efforts.

'Tom has made a huge difference on this campus,” UI President Bruce Harreld said in a statement. 'One of his legacies will be his work with the broader community to address the drinking culture at the university. His ability to build relationships and work through complex problems resulted in a significant decrease in binge drinking among undergraduates.”

Rocklin also earns praise in the character category. Harreld called him 'a trusted adviser to so many” and 'the nicest guy you'll ever meet.”

'Tom's ability to inspire collective action, especially in tough times, is one of his many talents,” Sarah Hansen, associate vice president in the Student Life division, said in a statement after Rocklin announced his retirement in December.

But what some might not know is that Rocklin came to campus as a spousal hire. His wife, Kimberly Ephgrave, was a surgeon and the one Iowa first sought.

At the time, Rocklin was teaching in the Department of Psychology at Texas Christian University.

'I just found this,” he said, pulling out a file of large index cards while chatting with The Gazette recently. 'When I was graduating and applying for jobs, I made a card for each of my applications and kept a record of what happened. There are over 30 cards that I applied to. And I got rejected from most of them - nearly all of them.

'So the one job I got, I took,” he said.

During her residency, Rocklin's wife was exposed to the idea of conducting research while teaching. So she interviewed at the UI and received an offer - which she countered with, 'You would have to have a job for my husband.”

The university found him one - and Rocklin started as a visiting assistant professor in the UI Division of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations in 1986. By 1988, he had earned the rank as associate professor, upgrading to full professor in 1995.

The next year, the dean of the College of Education encouraged Rocklin to apply to direct the new Center for Teaching, and Rocklin got the job. While in that role, he began chairing his department.

'That was not a job I particularly wanted, but I was convinced to do it,” he said. 'That was my first experience supervising a large number of people.”

But it wouldn't be his last.

He soon was tapped as interim associate provost and then full-fledged associate provost and eventually senior associate provost, dean, and vice provost before former UI President Sally Mason in September 2008 asked him to step in as vice president of student life.

The call came shortly after historic flooding devastated the campus - bringing a new set of tasks and responsibilities to the role. They included reopening Mayflower Residence Hall, which is close to the Iowa River, in time for fall classes and making sure the university offered its full academic course load despite its loss of facilities.

During his climb up the administrative ranks, Rocklin and his wife made a decision.

'We agreed to stop taking calls from headhunters, which we were both getting,” he said. 'It never worked out well for both of us. And we said, ‘Let's just plan to stay here.'”

For Rocklin, dropping all efforts to land at another university 'was really freeing.” And it led him to: 'I'll just do what the institution wants me to do.” Which, at the time, was to be vice president of student life.

'I really had never planned to be a vice president for student life, but if that's what the institution needed, I figured I could do it,” he said.

During his time in that role, Rocklin - among other things - focused his energy on creating unity around a specific mission, refocusing the university on the success of undergraduate students and launching the student success team, aimed at helping students get the most from their higher education experience.

'And completing the experience,” he said.

During his time as vice president, Rocklin's life took another twist. His wife, at age 53, was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died at age 56 in 2012.

'But those three years were actually three of the best years of our lives,” he said. 'We did a lot of fun things. Our priorities were clear.”

Ephgrave scaled back her work significantly - stopped operating completely - and enrolled as an undergraduate art student.

'Because she had always wanted to do that,” Rocklin said. 'It clarifies things. She knew she had three to five years to live, and she wasn't going to spend them not doing things that she wanted to do.”

After her death, Rocklin worked through the loss of part of his identity - something people also can tie to their careers, he said.

'I've got some experience doing that - with losing my wife,” he said. 'So now I want to figure out who retired Tom Rocklin is.”

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