Staff Spotlight: Gene Kleppinger

Gene Kleppinger is the Online Learning Manager here in EKU IT, which means he helps manage and support our learning management system (LMS)—Blackboard—in the IT division of Student Technology Services. He is the primary system administrator for the LMS, creates sites for all EKU courses each semester, and supports everyone in the EKU community who needs LMS assistance.  "The Blackboard system is the primary online tool for all academic work at EKU. My job is to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible for all students, faculty, and staff. I work with other IT staff and with the Blackboard company to achieve that goal."

Gene grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, attending public school in Bethlehem.  "My life in Bethlehem centered on connections through school, church, and family. During high school, I acted in many plays and fell in love with chemistry."  Gene, a 1975 graduate of Houghton College (Houghton, NY) who majored in chemistry with minors in math, philosophy, and German, has been at EKU since 1987 when he started as a part-time philosophy instructor.  Gene also has a bachelor's degree from Asbury Theological Seminary (1979) and an MA (1984) and Ph.D. (1992) from the University of Kentucky in philosophy. 

"When email came to the campus, I was among the first instructors to use it with my classes. When the Web arrived in 1993, I began focusing on how to make those resources valuable for my philosophy students. I shared my strategies with others in the College of Arts and Sciences, and some of my ideas and handouts got noticed by the leadership in Academic Computing (now Information Technology). In 1996, a friend in my church choir, who happened to be the director of Academic Computing, asked me to apply for a position at the help desk, where (she said) my skills with the Internet, Macintosh computers, and teaching would be very helpful. So, I got my first full-time job as a “Consultant On Duty” when I was 43 years old. At that time, the software for online learning was called “Web Course in a Box.” When EKU chose to use Blackboard in late 1999, I became its system administrator, a position I’ve held ever since. My job title has changed, but the responsibilities have stayed the same!"

Normal downtime for Gene includes his love of music in the church choir and handbells.  He also works with his local churches and keeps abreast of his two academic passions of chemistry and philosophy.  Gene also spends a lot of time with his eight grandchildren!  "I am well known at EKU and elsewhere for my necktie wardrobe. Some of my favorite books are collections of comics (Peanuts®, Calvin and Hobbes®, Dilbert®) and artwork (M. C. Escher and Salvador Dalí)."

"I started wearing ties daily to my work at EKU in 2000 when my office was located in the campus landmark Keen Johnson Building. I liked the idea of having a good story about my ties, and my collection grew with gifts from family and friends and visits to the Goodwill store. In April 2008, my sons challenged me to create a blog about my ties to spread my daily news to the world. After fifteen years I’ve produced over 3400 entries about my ties, at https://seeds-ties.blogspot.com. The most common question is “How many ties do you have?” and the answer is about 350. I keep them in my closet on four rotating racks (plus other hangers). I have many favorites in all sorts of different categories. Please visit “Tied Up Today” to see the full list with photos – some traditional stripes but many more novelty designs, including surprises like chain mail, duct tape, clothesline, and a large cactus."

Gene will be retiring at the end of this semester (December 2023), and he will be missed by his IT and academic colleagues!