Retirement Series: Terry Luloff

By: Drew Brown

Terry Luloff is a retiring math professor here at the Ankeny campus. Luloff got his bachelor’s degree for mathematics at Wartburg University, and his master’s degree in education at Drake University.

“You never know what is going to happen in the classroom. It has been said variety is the spice of life. You can have that with teaching also,” Luloff said.

Luloff has taught at DMACC for 22 years as a math professor. He’s taught everything from arithmetic to business calculus.

“My mission in life is to help people, helping them understand the [mathematical] process,” Luloff said.

Luloff was in the military for less than a year, but was dismissed after almost losing the use of his arm.

Luloff didn’t think he’d enjoy teaching as much as he does today.

“Sometimes you have a class where the chemistry of the students is such that we just have a lot of fun,” Luloff said.

Luloff started teaching at Dunkerton High School, where he met his wife. He then taught at Plainfield High School before coming to DMACC.

“Many of my most memorable experiences have happened in the classroom,” said Luloff.  “I have taught Finite Math many times, yet I keep changing the activities we do in class to see if I can find ways that students understand the course content better and maybe have fun doing it also.”

Luloff plans to do a lot of traveling after retiring. He and his wife have many time-shares across the country, mostly on the eastern seaboard.

Luloff is choosing to retire now at the age of 66 because the pay out and the retirement plan DMACC is offering is really beneficial.

He plans on spending more time with his family and is happy to await the arrival of his first grandchild.