Identities matter. I recently lost my credit card, triggering a host of worries and questions: Where and when did I last use the card? Did I leave it in my pants pocket? Is it on the floor of my car? Should I slowly look through every part of my wallet for the ninth time?

"Dr. Clarey rocks!…[He] makes the subject easy to understand, shows a great knowledge, and is an overall amazing professor!” The sentiments expressed by this former student at Delta College in Michigan, where Dr. Timothy Clarey taught geology for 17 years, are echoed by other students. Dr. Clarey knew how to communicate sometimes difficult material to his college students.