Dorlan D. Mork oral history interview 2, 2014 August 25

Digital Record

Identifier: OH-UA-MO0110

Staff Only

Digital Object (sound_recording_nonmusical)

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Dates

Creation: 2014 August 25

Summary

In this second of two interviews, Dr. Dorlan D. Mork, long-time employee of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, provides contextual background for three items he donated to the university’s archives. First, he explains the booklet From Query’s Turnout to UNC Charlotte, which was the result of a student project in the late 1980s. He shares the motivation and process behind the volume including how he and he his students first learned of “Query’s Turnout.” He also shares some background information on the Query family. Second, he discusses a project conducted by himself and a graduate student concerning the UNC Charlotte Wildlife Refuge. Dr. Mork relates the research process, the history of the land and its use by the university, and personal history of Dr. and Mrs. George Leiby, who donated the property to UNC Charlotte, including Dr. Leiby’s research on water pollution in Stanly County, North Carolina. Third, Dr. Mork explains his involvement in the development of the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina (MCNC), a center that initially connected experts from five North Carolina universities, including UNC Charlotte, via telecommunications for simultaneous research and collaboration. Dr. Mork, who served as the director of the Learning Resources Center at UNC Charlotte from 1972 until around 1983, also describes the purpose and activities of the center.

Biographical Note

Dr. Dorlan D. Mork was an 82-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Iowa in 1932. He was educated at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, at Western Carolina University, and at the University of Florida and was a National Science Foundation Fellow at the College of William and Mary, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Florida. He was employed as an instructor for the Continental Army Command Airborne and Electronics Test Board with the United States Army; as a high school teacher and Director of Adult Education for Independence Public Schools in Independence, Iowa; as an Instructor of Education, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor of Education at the University of Northern Iowa; as Research Associate and Assistant in the College of Education at the University of Florida; as Director of Learning Resources and Associate Professor of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and as Director of the Charlotte Wildlife Refuge in Stanly County, North Carolina.