After 27 years, Dr. James Langford, director of technology education, takes his final bow at ACU as he retires and plans to move to California.

“I’ve loved it here. It’s been a great place to work,” Langford said.

Langford and his wife plan on moving to California.

“We’re going to live on the same property as my son, his wife and two kids,” Langford said.

Langford was a student at ACU where he met his wife. He had been traveling all over the world before moving back to Abilene to raise his children while he worked as an ESL professor at ACU.

“I got more and more interested and started using computers in my class and we did some games and different things to try and get students talking and interacting,” Langford said. “I still loved language and language teaching but I wanted to learn more in technology and I was given the opportunity to do that.”

Langford contributes his success at this school to the people he has worked with.

“Just working with good people, I’ve had bosses that have let us explore new areas and colleagues that were always willing to jump in and try things,” Langford said.

One of the many people Langford worked with was Scott Hamm, Mobile Learning Research director.

“I think he was intellectually and spiritually grounded,” Hamm said. “I thought he was very thoughtful in his approach to what he did and his interactions with the people that he worked with.”

Langford welcomes the idea of another individual coming into his position with new ideas.

“His position as director of educational technology is currently listed and people are being interviewed for the position,” Hamm said.

Langford cherishes the people he met along the way.

“People. You always come back to the people that surround you in this kind of endeavor,” Langford said.