For the first time in his adult life, SKYCTC Assistant Professor Scott Cassady says he isn’t wondering what his next job will be. “This is the first place I’ve ever worked when I wasn’t thinking of what to do next,” he says.
That’s saying a lot for this versatile man who has held a wide variety of positions in different professions. Over the years, his title has been pastor and nurse before it became professor. He’s also teaching in both the Math & Science and Arts & Humanity divisions.
Cassady is in his sixth year of teaching physics to students who want to go into pre-engineering at a four-year university after completing their associate degree at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College. He teaches Physics I and II along with a Statics course to would-be engineers. He also teaches physics for General Education students.
His versatility is demonstrated in his class load this semester. Cassady has added to his 25-credit-hours teaching load (15 hours is considered full-time) the Introduction to Comparative Religions course. That’s a natural for him, since one of his four degrees is a Batchelor of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has preached regularly for two congregations, including serving as the founding pastor of New Life Baptist Church near Auburn.
There’s more to his versatility. After ending his tenure at New Life, he taught physics at South Warren High School before earning a Bachelor of Nursing from WKU. He then worked as a nurse at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville and at Logan Memorial Hospital in Russellville.
Still, teaching holds an important role in his life. He first taught physics at the prestigious St. Xavier High School in Louisville after earning his Master of Science degree in Physics at Florida State University. “Even when I was a pastor, I felt I was better at teaching Bible classes than at preaching,” he says.
He was aware of what is now SKYCTC when his dad took carpentry courses at what was Bowling Green Technical College after retiring from the military. It was directly across the street from Warren Central where Scott was a high school student.
When he learned that SKYCTC was looking for someone to teach advanced physics in a new pre-engineering concept, he applied and was chosen to fill the role. The SKYCTC program is functioning well and has developed a close relationship with the WKU engineering department
He’s also very active in the college, serving on five committees. He’s chairman of two of them, including serving as head of the state physics curriculum committee for all 16 KCTCS colleges.
Scott Cassady has two grown children. Son Caleb, 25, is a software engineer in Philadelphia, and daughter Sarah is a senior math major at Southern Illinois University.
“I love this college and what I do here,” Professor Cassady says. “I love my job and the people I work with. If I stay here another 20 years, I’m okay with that. This is where I want to be.”