Professor Bruce Moore retirement reflection
Campus, Editorial, Feature April 19, 2026, 0 Comment“Life is important. Your career needs to be apart of that life. But…your career needs to be informed by your life.” These are the words of wisdom retiring Professor Bruce Moore would give fresh graduates as he draws an end to his career. Moore has been faculty working at Drury University since 1986 and is one of the founding faculty members of the Hammons School of Architecture (HSA).
Regarding the beginnings of the Drury architecture program, Moore said, “When we started teaching architecture classes, we weren’t an accredited program. Our goal was to become accredited, become accredited as a different kind of place at the time, and perhaps still we are.”
Along with teaching classes at HSA, Moore is the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) advisor and the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society advisor. Moore is also a licensed architect and does both acoustical consulting and legal consulting. “Getting to work with Bruce as the faculty advisor of Tau Sigma Delta has been great! I love seeing him grinning while coming to find me at my desk to talk. His care for the things he is apart of is something that I admire,” writes Hope Kassel, the current president of Tau Sigma Delta.
“Bruce has been a tremendous mentor for me,” David Beach, Associate Dean and Professor of HSA commented when asked about his time at HSA with Moore. Beach, along with many other faculty of HSA, have similar reflections of Professor Moore. Many recount that Moore has always been a core member of faculty, always willing to “pitch in” as Dr. Robert Weddle, professor in HSA stated it.
“I feel like I’ve been blessed with Bruce as a mentor for the craft of teaching,” comments Beach on the impact Moore as had on him through the years.
“I play trombone, I sing Tenor, and it was exciting to come [to Drury], because those things were not appreciated other places,” Moore comments as he speaks about what makes Drury’s architecture program so special. He explains that the program here supports students as they navigate their many passions and interest as they enter the architecture profession. “If you want to do music, you could still do music and do architecture. If you wanted to do sports, you could do sports and architecture…That’s uncommon in architecture schools,” Moore said.
When Moore was asked about a lesson he’s learned during his time at Drury, he answered a simple piece of wisdom: “small is good.” Moore attended the University of Michigan, where the school of architecture school stands at 400-500 students. “It’s nice to be in a small place…You can get a lot done in a small place.”
And surely, Moore has done a lot at Drury. He’s been involved in a multitude of committees, has been the chef for HSA’s annual Bug Boil (Crawfish Boil), and has been a mentor for both faculty and students alike.
“What I’ll miss is sitting at the desk with students working on something that comes totally out of left field,” Moore reminisced. His role as a mentor and guide has been a core component of his time at Drury University. “As a professional architect you may have 3 or 4 projects going on simultaneously…but on any given afternoon, I team up with a student…and it’s fun to watch it click and a project take off.”
Moore further spoke about the alumni of Drury and how many have moved on to successful careers in architecture. “I just love it when one of our students does well out there in the world.” Students and faculty will both miss Moore once the semester is over; however, his legacy and the things he’s taught us will live with not just the people, but with HSA indefinitely.
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