With a student to faculty ratio of 22 to 1, an average class size of 28 and the highest percentage of undergraduate courses taught by full-time faculty in the entire UW System, students at UWSP have the daily opportunity to interact with our world-class faculty. Our students are taught and mentored by dedicated professors whose first priority is teaching, but whose accomplishments in the field continue to mold them into the educators that they are today.
Below you’ll find just a few examples of the extraordinary ways in which our faculty are distinguishing themselves at the local, national and international levels, all of which adds up to the exceptional educational experience that awaits you here at UW-Stevens Point.
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Robert Rosenfield, Professor of Biology and an internationally renowned researcher, specializes in the field of avian ecology. The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet have aired several shows highlighting his research with birds of prey. Rosenfield has been named to the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, a national honor roll for teachers who have been recognized and nominated by their students as being an outstanding educator. This summer he is taking a group of students on a research trip to Alaska.
Michael Zach, Professor of Chemistry and guest faculty researcher with the Argonne National Laboratory, has been awarded a prestigious CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation. Zach, an expert in nanotechnology, received the $401,442 award for his research with nanowires, along with a three year $165,672 UW System WiSys Technology Foundation grant. A congressional panel asked him to share his groundbreaking research at a briefing co-hosted by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), and the House Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Caucus.
Diane
Canfield Bywaters, Professor of Art, is an artist and
educator, specializing in landscape painting. She has painted
extensively throughout the United States, France, Costa Rica,
England,
and Italy. Bywaters has the distinction of being
selected to more current national park artist-in-residency programs
than any other artist; National Parks include Glacier, Isle Royale,
Rocky
Mountain, Acadia, Hawaii Volcanoes, Apostle Islands,
Indiana Dune, Voyagers, Buffalo River, and Alaska's Denali. Her
work has been collected by numerous
corporations including Pepsi Corporation, 3-M, United Airlines,
and General Motors.
Jianwei Wang, Professor of Political Science and past recipient of a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Grant, is an expert on U.S./China relations. He has appeared nationally as an expert on China on media outlets such as PBS News Hour, FOX, National Public Radio and Nightline. Wang is associated with the Atlantic Council, a prestigious foreign affairs think tank and the Voice of America regularly flies Wang to Washington to participate in roundtable discussions that are broadcast to the Far East. Wang regularly takes students to the annual National Model United Nations (UN) conference in New York City.
Elia
Armacanqui-Tipacti, Professor of Foreign Languages,
recently received the Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award,
which recognizes women in Wisconsin for their contributions to
the advancement of women on their campuses and in their
communities. Armacanqui-Tipacti was a keynote speaker at the
Wisconsin Women Care Conference, and organized a collaborative
Poetry and Art exhibition titled "Elimination of All Forms of
Violence Against Women." She serves as an editor and contributor to
the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature, and has transcribed
and translated the journals of two 17th and 18th century Peruvian
nuns for publication. A native of Peru, Armacanqui-Tipacti is fluent
in the Incan language, Quechua, as well as Spanish and Portuguese.
Tom
Brown, Professor of Interior Architecture, has received
several national and local awards
for his work, including the
Wisconsin Sustainability & Energy Efficiency Award for Excellence in
Sustainable Design & Construction. He has also been a frequent
presenter at regional and national conferences and is the founding
member of several Building Associations. Perhaps one of his most
notable accomplishments took place in Mozambique, Africa. While
there, Brown managed a country-wide school construction project,
funded by the World Bank and African Development Bank, under the
United Nations Development Program.
Michael J. Hansen, Professor of Fisheries Biology, was appointed to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission by President George W. Bush. He currently serves as Coeditor for the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Some of the cutting edge research conducted by Hansen and his students include working with Walleye, Lake Trout, and other fish communities in and around the Midwest. Recently, he was awarded the Excellence in Fisheries Education Award, the highest award for an educator from the American Fisheries Society.
Barbara Dixson,
Professor of English, has been awarded the
prestigious Ann Lydecker Educational Diversity Award from the
Wisconsin State Council on Affirmative Action for her
ongoing teaching project, “Literature
Circles Diversity Collaboration.”
The project brings diverse urban and rural high school
students together with UWSP education students to form online
literature groups focusing on books dealing with race.
The
UWSP students also visit each school to work
with the high school students in person. The project
teaches Dixson's students what it takes to be an English teacher, as
well as to educate the community about how easily stereotypes can be
overcome through education.
Leslie Wilson, Professor of Education, has
developed programs for gifted, highly able, and creative learners
across the United States. Dr. Wilson was recognized with the
Teaching Scholar Award and the University Excellence in Teaching
Award. As a very successful book, manuscript, and grant writer, Dr.
Wilson recently received the $500,000 Congressional Award to fund
the FACETS Project –a multi-year development project which focuses
on realigning university teaching to the
needs of students and
introduces faculty to newer methods of teaching.