Matt Cleaver became enamored with philosophy during his sophomore year of college when he took Introduction to Philosophy. Philosophy teaches a particular way of thinking about the world: more than anything else, philosophy teaches us to question our assumptions in order to come to a fuller understanding of the truth. 

As an instructor, Mr. Cleaver believes that philosophy courses prepare students for an engaged life outside the classroom. The thinking tools and skills gained in philosophy courses are applicable to civics, family life, personal development, and especially workforce preparation. Employers express the need for employees who exhibit the philosophical skills of critical thinking, analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, innovation, and creativity. 

Mr. Cleaver obtained his Master of Humanities with a concentration in Philosophy from the University of Dallas. He lives in Athens, Texas with his wife and daughter. Outside of class, he enjoys cooking, reading, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, camping, and cycling.  Matt began teaching as an adjunct instructor for TVCC in 2017.  Matt Cleaver may be reached at matthew.cleaver@tvcc.edu.

Dr. Bob Price was born and raised in Kentucky and has four earned degrees from various institutions.  He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.  His specialty in engineering was in controls and turbo propulsion.  He worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft for 10-years.  During that time he worked on the team that designed the control system for the F-14 and the F-15 fighter aircrafts.  He holds a patent on the SR-71—commonly known as the Blackbird.  That plane was our primary “spy plane” and was the highest flying and fastest flying aircraft in the world. 

He took “time-out” during his engineering career to serve as an officer in the US Army.  That was at the height of the Vietnam War and his responsibility was a company commander of an ADM (Atomic Demolition Munition) unit.  Although this munition was the proverbial “mushroom cloud” it was not designed to be used against the populous, but to do things such as move a mountain or to divert a river through a town. 

He has another Master’s Degree in Divinity and his fourth earned degree is a Doctorate in Ethics.  His dissertation is a 400-page document written to help people understand how the ethical issues of the day impact our walk, our work and our life.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart for almost all his life.  They have 2-grown children and 5-grandchildren.  They in the country and he enjoys working in the yard and garden.  He is an avid sports guy!  His favorite sport is whichever one is being played at the time. He is completely “fanatical” about the University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball team and follow every game each year. 

He has been teaching at TVCC as an adjunct instructor for over 34-years.  For the first 25+ years he taught Engineering Drafting along with CAD (Computer Assisted Design).  Realizing his education in Ethics, the Provost at Terrell asked him to design and write an introductory course in Ethics.  TVCC started with one section and through the years the course has grown to approximately 10 sections of both face-to-face and Online.

Dr. Price loves to teach and is totally committed to helping the “light come on” in the mind of an individual.  We are living in an ever moving and changing culture.  Ethics is not about yes or no!  Ethics is about learning to live in the gray areas of our society.  Many social/ethical issues are impacting our society today. People are struggling over how to live in the dichotomy of an issue being legal but at the same time unethical.  His desire is to educate and help people know what they believe and why they believe it.  Dr. Price may be reached at bob.price@tvcc.edu .

Mark Rogers began teaching a Trinity Valley College as an adjunct in 2002. Mr. Rogers has Bachelor’s degree from East Texas Baptist College and Master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also has other Philosophy graduate hours from U T Tyler and Jacksonville Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Cheryl Rogers and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.  Mr. Rogers may be reached at mark.rogers@tvcc.edu.