Shortly before Paul Torgersen became Virginia Tech's 14th president, he referred to himself as "a professor who is also serving as president."

A revered educator who treasured his students, Torgersen, who died March 29 at the age of 83, spent 58 years in the classroom. Even while he was the president from 1994 to 2000 and the College of Engineering (COE) dean from 1970 to 1990, he taught at least one course per semester.

"I always felt his best job was as a professor," said COE Dean Richard Benson. "He loved being in the classroom."

W.S. "Pete" White Jr. (electrical engineering '48), the BOV rector when Torgersen became president, remained a close friend. "To know Paul well was to love him," White said. "He was a very caring person. ... He was interested in people. He liked what he was doing. He liked working with young people."

Bevlee Watford (mining engineering '81, M.S. industrial engineering and operations research '83, Ph.D. '85) experienced Torgersen's intent firsthand.

At a luncheon for black students during her sophomore year, Watford found herself sitting next to a faculty member she didn't know. "When he found out I was studying mining, we started talking about the department, my upcoming co-op position, and many other things," Watford said. "I remember thinking, 'This guy is a total stranger, but seems really interested in me.' It was a nice conversation that ended with him offering me encouragement and saying to contact him if I needed something."

Only when the man left did Watford learn who he was. "Imagine my total shock when I realized I had spent lunchtime talking with the dean of my college, Paul E. Torgersen," she said. "I never forgot that meeting."

The conversation was "one of those truly pivotal events we all have in our lives," said Watford, now a professor of engineering education, COE associate dean of academic affairs, and director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. "He was an incredible mentor, someone I could always talk to about any kind of issue. He was always in my corner. I am lucky that he was such a positive force in my life, and Virginia Tech was lucky that he chose Blacksburg as the place to make his home and career."

Torgersen went out of his way to serve students. Once, a student's father was seriously injured in an automobile accident and not expected to live. Torgersen, then the dean, bought the student an airplane ticket to return home, and the student was able to see his father before his father died that evening.

Former BOV rector Mike Quillen (civil engineering '70, M.S. '71) came to Tech from a small town and was discouraged by the difficulty of calculus and physics courses. Torgersen, who was his advisor, encouraged him to stick it out. "Paul was the driving force to make me stay," Quillen said. "There's nobody I respect more than Paul. He was just a great gentleman."