I first met Dean Gage in my third year of engineering when I took his Math 350 class. On the first day of lectures he greeted every single student. When I introduced myself, to my amazement he remembered my father, by name, whom he had taught the same course 30 years earlier.
All the stories I had heard about his teaching prowess were confirmed as the year progressed. Never had I ever had a teacher who made a difficult course so simple and interesting.
A humorous incident took place in this class which I wish to share. Back in the late 60’s smoking in the classroom was an accepted practice…..but not to everyone as I found out one day. We were well into our lecture as I lit up a Craven A only to be doused with two fire extinguishers by my “buddies”.
The class was in an uproar and most professors would have been extremely upset at the interruption but not Dean Gage. He saw the humor in the act and said “Bradshaw (he never called me Braidwood) you seem a little damp and should probably change” and carried on teaching as if nothing ever happened,
As a sidebar, my “buddy” and team member Gary Wong on this project tells me almost 50 years later that it was arranged for me to be late for the aforementioned class but an empty seat in the front row was purposely left vacant for my me so the dastardley deed could be carried out front and center!!! It worked!!
Butch Braidwood
BASc 1971
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