Henry G. Spratt, 70 UTC professor and senior microbiologist
It’s not that Henry G. “Rardy” Spratt can’t leave his job at the office at the end of a given workday — he simply chooses not to. A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga professor for the past 30 years, Spratt is also the school’s senior microbiologist. Throw in the fact that he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Georgia Tech and his Ph.D from the University of Georgia, and it’s little wonder that he says “I try to live the life of a microbiologist.”
“I do composting,” he says. “I make yogurt. I’ve made beer and wine. When I garden, I work diligently to make sure the soil stays rich.
“The reason I’ve stayed on in this field so long,” he adds, “is that I enjoy it. That’s what I try to get over to people I’m teaching.”
What keeps you excited/interested in continuing work?
I taught freshmen and sophomores before I came to UTC, but now I don’t teach beginning students at all. Students (I have) now really want to learn the material, and I get a great deal of pleasure from teaching them.
If I can get them to think critically, from the standpoint of being a microbiologist, I’ve won. It’s as exciting now to see that realization come into their eyes as it was when I first started.
How has your field changed over the course of your career, and how have you adapted?
Microbiologists these days come in two flavors — those who use cultural techniques and those who use a more modern approach to extract DNA and identify cultures based on the DNA sequence. Two years after I finished my Ph.D at the University of Georgia, another graduate student, also at Georgia, did that work using molecular tools to extract DNA.
So I missed that molecular bandwagon by two years, the effect of which was that I had to use other techniques to be able to study the microbes I was focused on. It’s the questions I ask and answer through my research that have enabled me to keep publishing, which keeps my research relevant.
What are some habits or strategies that have helped you succeed?
Before I was married and had kids, I didn’t use my time super wisely. I’d go to work at 7:30 in the morning and not get home until 9 at night. That went on for about four years — and then we had our first child. Then I had a very real schedule, because child-care pickup and taking care of her until (wife) Anne got home was my job.
I used to fritter time away a bit, talking to and having fun with my friends in the office, but now my time in the office had to be 100% effective. When I adopted that plan, I published more papers and got more grants — all in less time, and I think I helped raise our kids effectively.
What are some ways you’re preparing the next generation to lead?
There are two ways to look at this question — as a professor teaching a next generation of students to be scientists and as a mentor to junior faculty.
We’ve learned in recent years that we need future generations to understand basic science much better than many of our leaders today. Through teaching, I can help my students learn how to think like microbiologists and help them resist disinformation.
As for junior faculty, research productivity of many senior faculty tends to diminish as they near retirement age, but I’ve been able to maintain an active research program and ramp up my productivity over the past decade. My department benefits from my increased productivity in the example I set for junior faculty and the undergraduate Honors students who work with me in my lab — encouraging them to set up sustainable research programs that they can keep going throughout their careers.
Hopefully, my influence on my colleagues will result in continued research options for our younger faculty for years to come.