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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

Custer retires after 36 years of service to HU

FOR RELEASE June 8, 2009

Sharon Custer speaks at the 2009 Celebration of Service event held May 11. Dr. G. Blair Dowden, president of the university, is in the background.

Huntington, Ind.—After 36 years of serving Huntington University in a variety of capacities, Sharon Custer retired at the end of the 2008-2009 academic year. 

“The university community is grateful for the loyal and faithful service that Sharon has given the university during all those years and for the many roles she was willing to take on as programs changed and institutional needs moved in various directions,” said Dr. Steve Holtrop, associate dean of graduate and adult studies. 

Sharon Custer (right) and Deborah VanMeter staff a table at a leadership development event for the EXCEL Adult Degree Programs.

Hired in 1973 as an instructor of business education and promoted to assistant professor of business education several years later, Custer’s initial focus was teaching in the associate degree programs in secretarial science. She served as chair of the Business and Economics Department during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As personal computing and business software applications developed, Custer addressed this new need, creating and offering courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint while also moving into the role of coordinator of prior learning assessment and eventually assistant director of HU’s new EXCEL degree-completion program for working adult students. 

Sharon Custer

In 1997, Custer filled in as the interim director of the EXCEL program during the search for a director. She then continued on as assistant director again and also used her knowledge of academic program requirements and her skills with the administrative database as an assistant to the registrar. Custer continued to teach part-time in the business department and served as the advisor for business education majors.

“I appreciated Sharon’s quiet support for me when I was an administrator and for her willing spirit to take on whatever task we asked of her,” said Dr. Gerald Smith, dean emeritus and professor emeritus.

Sharon Custer

Sharon Custer

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

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