Spring 2008

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Honors and Awards

Brenda Boetel, agricultural economics professor and a UW Extension livestock marketing specialist, has received a $100,000 risk management grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant will be used to offer workshops for dairy beef producers in Wisconsin and Iowa.

The program will integrate production, marketing and finance education to show how they correspond with business management. Workshops will offer information on the unit cost of production, financial statements, forecasting and risk management strategies, as well as how to analyze seasonal price changes. Boetel is the principal overseeing the grant project. John Lawrence, director of the beef center at Iowa State University, and Jeff Lehmkuhler, an animal scientist at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, will assist with the project. The trio will train the extension agents who will then present the workshops. Plans are to have training for the county agents in late spring and have the workshops available for producers later in 2008.

The 2008 Distinguished Teacher is associate professor Travis Tubré of the psychology department. Presented annually since 1965, the award is the highest honor bestowed at the university, a recognition of the value placed on teaching and learning at UWRF.

Chancellor Betz announced the selection in April based on nominations from graduating seniors and recent graduates. One of those nominators described Tubré as “being extremely informed and organized, all while presenting information on a level that students identify with and gravitate toward. An example of how he selflessly guides students is expressed by the amount of time he spends coordinating research grants and opportunities for students to present at national conferences, as well as scenarios when he has personally arranged for students to experience graduate level course work at top regional programs.”

Tubré teaches general psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, employee selection and training, psychological testing and research methods courses. He considers himself fortunate to work with students who make each day a rewarding experience.

“As someone who studies the psychology of work, I am fully aware that waking up each morning excited about the prospect of going to work is a rare experience. Hopefully, my students know that they make this possible for me and that I will continue striving to provide them with the best educational experience I can deliver,“ said Tubré. He joined the UWRF faculty in 2001.

Gayle Dodge received the Chancellor’s Recognition Award for Classified Staff. Dodge has a degree from Eau Claire Technical College and worked for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before transferring to UWRF after she was married in 1972. She worked in the accounts payable department for three years, then took a few years off to spend more time with her children. She returned in 1982 to part-time position in the parking office. In 1985 she transferred to a full-time position in the agricultural economics and agricultural engineering departments and plans to retire from that position in the next few years. She is actively involved with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and the Hearing Loss Association of Western Wisconsin and was a past coordinator of her church’s food booth at the Pierce County Fair. In a nomination letter, David Trechter of the Survey Research Center on campus wrote, “Gayle is simply integral to the functioning of both departments with which she works. Without a doubt, Gayle Dodge is the best [program associate] with whom I have had the pleasure of working.”

Herb Cederberg received the Advisor of the Year Award, given for past service to students. An emeritus professor of history, Cederberg joined UWRF in 1966 and retired in 1999. He received B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University in Chicago. Prior to coming to UWRF he taught at the University of California-Davis and after joining UWRF was an assistant visiting professor at the University of Minnesota for a year. In the early 1970s he co-founded and was director of the UWRF Minority Services Office and was the recipient of several state and national grants for his research and publications. For many years, Cederberg led an annual study tour to the Washington, D.C. area and a colonial history tour to sites around the East Coast.

Joe Langer also received the Chancellor’s Recognition Award for Classified Staff. Langer, who graduated from the Delavan School for the Deaf in 1983, is a custodian in the Chalmer Davee Library, a post he has held for 21 of his 22 years as a campus employee. Langer’s library co-workers, such as Brad Gee, offered this praise in nominating him for the award: “Joe’s work ethic is contagious. There is no justification for being slothful in the presence of a man who is hefting chairs onto tables as if they were matchsticks– and this is after having completed the morning chores on the farm.” Library Director Valerie Malzacher had this to say: “Joe is one of the most hard-working, dedicated, friendly and helpful individuals that I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I came to realize just how dedicated Joe is when we were challenged with two years of library remodeling.”

Amy Lloyd received the Chancellor’s Recognition Award for Excellence for Academic Staff. She received a bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Benedict, a master’s degree from St. Cloud University, and a second master’s from Cleveland University. Lloyd is currently a leadership coordinator in the division of student affairs and was previously a student support services coordinator. Student Lucky Vang, who was Lloyd’s advisee, said this in nominating Lloyd: “Amy has taught me to become a better person, how to get involved around the community, how to stand out, how to socialize with others in a calm manner, and many other things that have changed who I am.” Lloyd was a cofounder and organizer of several campus service efforts, including the receipt of a Campus Compact grant to establish the Falcon Fellows, a program that connects UWRF students with children in River Falls through the America Reads program; Gillette Children’s Hospital Smiles 4 Kids; the Building Tomorrow project, which sent UWRF students to Uganda to assist in the construction of a boarding school; and “alternative” spring break trips to the various areas for service projects including Minneapolis and Gulfport, Miss. Lloyd also volunteers at Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis. Nominator and colleague Tyra Nelson says of Lloyd: “Serving is not what she does; it’s who she is.”

Four University of Wisconsin-River Falls faculty members have been approved for sabbatical leaves for one semester during the 2008-09 academic year. The primary purpose of the faculty sabbatical program is to enable recipients to engage in intensive study to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their service to the university

• Patricia Berg, an associate professor of journalism, will be researching and writing a book on the community press in the rural Midwest. The book will emphasize the role of the rural community press in democracy since the 1930s. Berg’s basic premise is that long before the Internet, rural community papers have provided an “ultralocal” voice in which ordinary people’s lives were chronicled. However, unlike the Internet, which is actually a universe of aggregated private communication, the local community paper is truly a public forum.
• Chemistry Professor Kevin McLaughlin plans to participate in the National Science Foundation funded “Mathematics and Chemistry” to be held at the University of Minnesota. The activities pursued will involve theoretical and computational research into the applications of chemical graph theory for the prediction of physical properties of molecular mixtures and macromolecules. These activities will serve to improve and update the author’s knowledge of chemical thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, thus contributing to the improvement of the author’s teaching upon his return to UWRF.
• Timothy Buttles, an associate professor in agricultural education, will provide the opportunity to again experience the day-to-day work of a K- 12 teacher. The insights gained from working sideby- side with several different agricultural education teachers will allow Buttles to refresh course content and provide experiences that reflect today’s K-12 classrooms. The main outcome will be a curriculum that better prepares UWRF agricultural education graduates to become successful teachers.
• Kenneth Stofferahn, professor of communication studies and theatre arts, will explore new computer design software available for theatrical design and technology. His research will culminate in the selection of software for use in theatrical design and technology classes at UWRF and in the development of teaching methodologies to facilitate student learning of selected software.

A mix of community members, UW-River Falls alumni, former singers and students of retired professor emeritus and former music department chair Elliot Wold recognized their musical mentor by dedicating the UWRF choir room in his honor following the annual homecoming concert. Wold was a professor of music and choral conductor at UWRF for 36 years. “I was very pleasantly surprised and honored to be chosen,” he says. “Working with the students and seeing their accomplishments was the biggest honor I had in teaching.”

UWRF students competed in contests, participated in band or choir, and received numerous awards at the National FFA Convention. Students also represented the Alpha Tau Alpha organization at the National Alpha Tau Alpha Conclave and National Collegiate Agricultural Education Conference held in conjunction with the convention. The UWRF Alpha Tau Alpha organization received the A.W. Nolan Memorial Leadership Award. This is the third year in a row it has received this platinum award. UWRF’s Timothy Buttles was named the Alpha Tau Alpha National Advisor President.

The College of Arts and Sciences awarded three faculty members the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award for 2007 in the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and Sciences and Mathematics. The Outstanding Teacher of the Year award was created by the CAS Dean’s Student Advisory Committee in 1985. Awards are granted based on student nominations and later selected by the members of the committee.

• Brad Caskey (Social Sciences) is a professor in the psychology department and has been teaching at UW-River Falls since 1990. He is currently the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and served as the psychology department chair for five years beginning in 2001.
• Morgan Clifford (Arts and Humanities) is a professor in the art department where she has taught since 1990. She has exhibited throughout North America, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Whipple Cultural Center in Las Vegas, and an exhibition entitled “Convergence” at the National Textile Exhibition in Vancouver. Clifford has also received a Career Opportunity Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for textile research in Sumatra, Bali and Java and a Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Karen Klyczek (Sciences and Mathematics) is a professor in the biology department and has been the department chair since 1999. This is the second time Klyczek has been honored with an Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Klyczek, as co-principal investigator, recently received a National Science Foundation Course and Curriculum Development grant, beginning in 2008.

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