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Remembrances of a Putnam City High Graduate
42 years ago Ken Dill graduated from Putnam City High School. It was an experience that provided him the foundation for a long and accomplished academic career.
 Now a professor of biophysics and an associate dean of research at the University of California in San Francisco, Dill is well-known in his field. He¹s lectured at universities across the country, been honored time and again by scientific societies, and sits on the editorial review board of several scientific journals. He¹s authored or co-authored more than 200 professional publications on topics such as “folding very short peptides using molecular dynamics” and “statistical mechanics of helix bundles.” He wrote a college chemistry textbook that is now used at more than 50 different universities, including MIT, Caltech and Berkeley, and he testifies in the U.S. Congress on the importance of basic biomedical research.
Dill has never forgotten his time at Putnam City High School. He recalls the many outstanding teachers he had and the teachers who went the extra mile to nurture in students a love of learning. Quite simply, Dill says, he loved being at Putnam City High School. Below he recounts some of what made that experience so special.
My first experience in Putnam City was at Putnam City High School. We moved here when I was a freshman. I had many favorite activities – I loved the football games, the pep rallies, the after-school science clubs, the supportive teachers, the kids who were my close friends. There were very few greater positive influences in my life more important than my experience at Putnam City High School.
For those of us deeply interested in science and math, a small special class was set up in my senior year. It was about five or six kids and a teacher. It was informal, with no real structure. We kids worked on our own, finding problems and projects of our own. A teacher was in the room to help when needed. Some of these projects went somewhere, some died. Some ended up as science fair projects; others didn't. Most of us started on one thing, changed to another and another, before finding something fruitful. But never was I more excited by an educational activity in my life. The huge power of it was that it taught us to learn on our own, to find our own motivations. Most importantly, it communicated to us in a powerful way that some adults believed in us. That simple confidence they placed in us has been a motive force driving me for years.
For 25 years I have been a professor – doing research and teaching – because of the sparks of excitement in science that were ignited in me by my math teachers, Milton Boydstun, Don Blackerby, Jim Hamilton and others. Their teaching had huge power in my life; I wanted to impart that to others. It was clear, even then, that the standards were set at the high levels by our principals, Ralph Downs and Leo Mayfield.
The greatest teachers are those who invest their time beyond the classroom in nurturing individual students. Mr. Boydstun stands out. He helped with computer and math clubs. He helped me with work in science fairs, even driving me to Edmond for one of them. Back in the 1960s, the first computers were emerging. It took huge room-sized computers then to do what you can do today on a pocket calculator. But it was exciting. Mr. Boydstun communicated that; he taught us; he encouraged us; he loved it himself; and he imparted a huge enthusiasm. I owe him big time for some fires that were lit inside me then.
In the retrospect that only 40-plus years away can provide, I now understand that Putnam City High School – the students, teachers and experiences – were among the most important I ever had, in molding my values, goals, dreams, interests and guiding me to the roads I ultimately meandered down in life. To me, the academic knowledge we gained was secondary. The real importance of Putnam City High School was that it developed our character. It was a community that valued achievement, embodied strong positive values, and, most importantly, cared about, supported and respected others. It was an unbelievably great foundation for a kid.
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