Alumni Spotlight - October 2022
Dave Hummel ‘82 grew up in Klamath Falls and attended Mazama High School as a freshman, then completed his high school years at Klamath Union High School. Dave played multiple sports during high school but primarily focused on basketball and baseball. His goal was to play baseball at Oregon State University (OSU), and he earned the opportunity when he was granted a full-ride scholarship in 1970. After Dave played his first year at OSU, the death of his friend, Mike Keck, followed by the passing of Dave’s mother, took him back to Klamath Falls, where he transferred to Oregon Tech. Danny Miles was coaching, and Dave was able to continue playing both sports he loved while also working on a two-year environmental degree. After taking some time off, Dave returned to Oregon Tech in 1982 to earn his degree by completing an elusive Physics class and helping Howard Morris coach the baseball team.
Dave explains that he “beat around the bush” for a few more years after college until 1987, when he returned to school at Southern Oregon University (SOU) and earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. He was hired to teach biology at Mazama High School and later completed his master’s degree in biology at SOU. Dave had a long and fulfilling career as a high school biology teacher, spending 18 years at Mazama, coaching baseball and basketball while there, and retiring in 2007. About his teacher career, Dave said, “We had a wonderful staff. Fourteen of us still get together twice a year, and we’ve done that for over 15 years.” Dave reflects on his teaching career as fast-paced, challenging, and rewarding.
Dave fondly remembers his time at Oregon Tech, explaining that after attending OSU, it was refreshing to be back in small classes, knowing the professors, walking across campus and knowing everyone, and being part of a great group of guys on his athletics teams. His advice for current Oregon Tech students is to “enjoy your experience because you’re going to get a job in a hurry with a good salary. Take advantage of everything Oregon Tech has to offer.”
In retirement, Dave enjoys being an outdoorsman, especially being active in hunting and fishing. In honor of his athletic accomplishments for the Owls, Dave was inducted into the Howard Morris Hall of Fame in September of 2022.
Dave’s son, Quinn Hummel ’09, followed a similar path as his father. Quinn played baseball at Mazama High School and attended Oregon State during his first year of college. Quinn says of OSU, “While it is a great school, I always felt like just another number in the crowd.”
Quinn transferred to Oregon Tech, where he enjoyed the smaller class sizes, more hands-on instruction, and the relationships he built with professors and classmates over his three years on the Klamath Falls campus.
At Oregon Tech, Quinn was president of the Biology Club, played for the Owls baseball team for three years, and won the Gold Glove award in 2008 and 2009. He made the All-Academic Team and received the Leo Bocchi Memorial Scholarship. Additionally, Quinn instituted a committee letter-writing process for applications to medical/dental schools.
After graduating in 2009 with his Biology degree, Quinn attended the OHSU School of Dentistry, graduated in 2013, and was hired to work at Willamette Dental Group in Roseburg just two months after receiving his degree. Quinn explains, “OIT was very good at preparing me for dental school. Our anatomy and physiology program was far more in-depth and had more hands-on dissection than any other school had in undergrad. I felt prepared for the bioscience core classes in my postdoc program.”
Quinn spent three years working as a dentist before opening his own clinic. He is now the owner and dentist of On Q Dentistry in Portland, Oregon. When he decided to go into healthcare, work-life balance was at the forefront of his concerns. He did not want to devote his entire life to a job. He explains, “As a dentist, I have a schedule that allows me to provide a great life for my family and still spend time with them. I also think that being able to build long-term relationships with my patients is one of the many reasons I love dentistry.”
Quinn has excellent advice for young adults. He encourages others “to take a year off, the year after high school, some year during undergrad, or a year before you head to graduate-level training. I went straight through to my first job with no time to find out more about myself, travel, etc. We are so motivated to get on with the lives that sometimes we miss out on living them. I feel spending some time finding out what you are passionate about and living life isn’t emphasized enough at that age.”
Quinn and his wife, Katie, a third-grade teacher in Sherwood, Oregon, are parents to a 4-year-old son, Leo. When not working, Quinn enjoys spending most of his time fishing, boating, and going on outdoor adventures with Leo.
~Becky Burkeen, Director of Alumni Relations