A ‘phenomenal teacher,’ longtime TCU professor dies at 65 from COVID-19 complications
Robert Rhodes, a professor for more than 30 years at TCU, died Friday from COVID-19 complications, university officials said. He was 65.
Rhodes, who was known as a “professor’s professor,” taught law in the Neeley School of Business, first starting as an adjunct professor in 1982. He practiced law until 1984, before becoming a full-time lecturer at TCU and became a well-respected and successful professor.
“This loss is devastating for me to relay and to bear, as I know it is for so many of our students, faculty and staff who admired Rob so much,” said Daniel Pullin, the John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business, in a TCU memorial. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.”
Originally from Kentucky, Rhodes received his Master of Law in international trade and finance from Tulane University in New Orleans, where he graduated among the top three students and his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Baylor University in 1980.
Rhodes was known for his quiet demeanor in class before letting out a booming voice to start his lectures, said Bill Moncrief, senior associate dean of the Neeley School of Business. For the rest of the class, students were mesmerized by the way he taught.
Both of them taught in Europe a couple of summers and Rhodes was so captivating that even Moncrief would stay in the classroom listening.
“Rob was just a phenomenal teacher,” Moncrief said.
Rhodes loved his job and took interest in his students; it never was just about a grade or a lecture, said Moncrief, who added that Rhodes wanted his students to succeed and be the best in their field.
Moncrief said Rhodes would want his classes to be flawless so every once in a while he’d go into Moncrief’s office and ask if anyone had an issue with his class. The answer was always no, and Moncrief would just smile at Rhodes because he knew no one would ever have a complaint against him; that’s just how good he was.
In a blog post from 2015, alumna Madelyn Carter wrote that Rhodes cared about how successful she could be. She said he didn’t care about the syllabus, but about how she could learn what he taught and apply it in the real world.
During his time as a professor, Rhodes earned top honors such as Honors Professor of the Year in 2020, Neeley Distinguished Professor in 2018, Top 40 Undergraduate Business Professor by Poets & Quants in 2017 and Best MBA Professor seven times, according to a TCU memorial article.
In an interview with Poets & Quants, he said his teaching style was not about memorizing and regurgitating, but about “applying domain knowledge to really messy business problems, where arguments are more highly prized than answers.”
He believed more business schools should teach this way and that they should tell students that learning trumps grades.
“Dr. Rhodes’ work will continue to reverberate around the world as his students apply the wisdom learned from his more than 30 years of teaching,” Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said in a statement.
TCU will provide more details about memorial opportunities to honor Rhodes’ life and legacy.
This story was originally published August 16, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
