Professor Ann Simpson came full circle at Laurel Ridge Community College, spending most of her career in the place where it all began.
Known for her Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and Outdoor and Wildlife Photography classes, Dr. Simpson retired Sept. 1. However, she has no plans of slowing down. In fact, she plans to ramp up her writing career and continue leading overseas adventures.
Family of educators
Professor Simpson grew up in Middletown, where her father served as mayor. She recalled bussing tables at the Wayside Inn at age 13. She was the daughter of educators, with her mom, Rachel Manuel, teaching art at Shenandoah University, and dad, Archie Manuel, teaching physical education and coaching football and cross country at James Wood High School.
“They were involved when the college was proposed to be located in Middletown,” Professor Simpson said. “They were encouraging the college to come here – to little, old Middletown.”
After graduating from James Wood High School, Professor Simpson married her first husband and had three children. When the youngest went to kindergarten, she decided it was time to continue her own education and enrolled at Laurel Ridge.
Professor Ann Simpson at a Laurel Ridge event.
Becoming a non-traditional college student
Dr. Simpson earned two degrees from Laurel Ridge – one in Science in 1987, and an Education degree in 1989. Her children were at commencement to see her graduate.
“I remember them calling for Mom as I walked across the stage,” she said. “It was a very proud moment for me.”
Two of those children would also attend Laurel Ridge.
After earning her degrees from the community college, Dr. Simpson earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in Chemistry and one in Biology, as well as her teacher licensure, from Shenandoah University. She returned to her old high school for her student teaching.
“When I went to student teach at James Wood High School the first time, my knees were literally banging together – I was terrified,” said Professor Simpson. “I had to work through that and then I realized they’re just kids. I never had any behavioral problems because I tried to make it interesting and I never talked down to them.”
After earning her teaching license, she taught English classes at Massanutten Military Academy for a period, before starting work in the science labs at Laurel Ridge in 1993.
“I set up the labs at the Middletown and Fauquier campuses, and helped set up the one at the Luray-Page County Center,” said Professor Simpson.
Professors Elisabeth Dingess and Ann Simpson kayaking in the Galapagos.
A return to the community college classroom
The first classes she taught at Laurel Ridge were in General Biology.
“We did a lot of fun things,” said Professor Simpson. “We planted rain gardens out back. When I first started teaching here, I taught Biology, but then there was such a great need for Anatomy and Physiology teachers that I went back to James Madison University and got a master’s degree in Anatomy and Physiology Education.”
She said she really enjoyed taking medical classes, which included time in the cadaver lab.
“Probably one of the most rewarding things is I was always interested in medicine as well as natural history, nature,” she said. “I took classes in both Anatomy and Physiology, and in Biology, Environmental Science and Ecology, because I loved them all.”
“I really learned about the mechanics of the human body at JMU,” said Professor Simpson, who had initially wanted to become a doctor herself.
However, having married and had children prior to beginning her post-secondary education, she went with “Plan B,” she said. Professor Simpson said she could really relate to the challenges many community college students face, such as juggling studying and parenting duties.
“When I started teaching here, I had a different point of view than most teachers because I had gone to school while my children were little,” she said. “I would go to a soccer game and have a biology book on my lap the whole time.”
Professor Ann Simpson and others meet a cheetah on trip to South Africa.
Professor Simpson has also taught birding and photography classes.
She and her late husband, Natural Resources Management Professor Emeritus Rob Simpson – who taught at the college for 40 years – led nature and wildlife photography courses at the college and shepherded photography excursions around the world. Their destinations included Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Costa Rica, Venezuela, the Galapagos, Peru, Belize, Brazil, and Colombia.
Professor Simpson continues to lead the trips, and is planning one to Panama next year. Over this past summer, she visited Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks.
“I will continue leading the international trips because those are life-changing experiences,” said Professor Simpson.
She has seen many changes at the college over the past three decades.
“This includes an increase in the number of students throughout the years,” said Dr. Simpson, who completed her Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Old Dominion University. “When I started, everybody knew everybody. Now, our faculty meetings have so many people, but the faculty are always wonderful – everybody’s there for the students, all the time.
Dr. Simpson received the 2023 Mentorship Award in Community College Leadership and Higher Education Program from ODU.
Professor Ann Simpson visiting Acadia National Park.
“That’s one of the things I always wanted to do – teach others how to be better teachers,” she said. “That was very rewarding for me. I wanted to get into a job that was meaningful and would make a difference in others’ lives.
“I love teaching. I loved the students, loved the medical field. A lot of my students went on to be nurses and doctors and dentists and physician assistants. That was very rewarding because when I would go into the doctor’s office or hospital, I would look up and say, ‘Oh good, it’s one of my students.’”
An educator, always
And, in her retirement, Dr. Simpson still finds herself educating others. She will continue writing nature guides to the national parks and revisions to previous ones, as well as park wildflower guides.
She is a member of numerous writing organizations:
- Outdoor Writers Association of America
- Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association
- North America Nature Photography Association
- Virginia Outdoor Writers Association
At the recent Outdoor Writers Association of America conference in Madison, Wisconsin, the Simpsons’ “Nature Guide to Acadia National Park” won first place in the book competition. This is a great honor as the categories are judged by the finest in outdoor writers and communicators in the nation.
“I enjoy doing it, I enjoy taking pictures, I enjoy writing and I do it with the purpose of teaching others,” said Professor Simpson of her published works. “I feel if others learn a little bit about nature, about wildlife, about birds, about the environment, that they will protect these special places, these national parks. Now, I will be able to focus full time on writing and working on more books and articles to hopefully educate and encourage more people to save the environment.
“I have been very fortunate in life to have been able to have three wonderful kids and raise them in a wonderful community here in Middletown and be a part of the Laurel Ridge community, but also to be able to see the world through travel and to see other cultures and other people and see how the rest of the world lives and how fortunate we are here.
“I’ve been very fortunate, but I’ve also worked really hard and that perseverance has paid off.”
Professor Ann Simpson embracing a student at a commencement ceremony.