Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- One of Barbara Prindiville's favorite quotes is from Linda Wesson, who wrote, "As you think and...as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts have brought you...You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you, no more, no less." Prindiville's thoughts have certainly lead her on a trail to success.

Prindiville graduated from Platteville High School and received the Platteville Medical Auxiliary Scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Her mother, Evelyn Johns, didn't have the chance to attend college, so she made sure that her children were college educated. Prindiville's siblings, Chuck and Nancy, graduated from the School of Engineering and Prindiville graduated in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in medical technology and earned her master of arts in teaching degree (4.0 cum laude) in 1974. "UW-Platteville gave me a strong background in scientific rigor that would match any of the larger universities. I always felt that I could compete at UW-Madison with any of my colleagues because of the undergraduate and master preparation that I was given at UW-Platteville," she says.

While at UWP, she was involved in Theta Beta, Kappa Alpha Sigma and was a marching band majorette and on Homecoming court.

After her graduation she became a histology lab supervisor at Winnebago State Hospital in Green Bay, leading her to become a microbiology technologist at Saint Mary's Hospital in Green Bay. Starting in 1979, she taught microbiology and clinical courses in the nursing, respiratory care practitioners, dental hygiene and medical assisting programs at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

In 1995 Prindiville earned her Ph.D. in educational administration (4.0 cum laude) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She then became the dean of Health and Service Occupation at Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville. During her time there, Prindiville also served as the interim dean of Library and AV/Technology. She moved on to serve as consultant for the Nursing and Health Occupations programs for the Wisconsin Technical College System Office. She is currently the vice president of instruction at Western Wisconsin Technical College in La Crosse, where she manages more than 70 educational associate, technical and certificate programs serving over 20,000 full and part time students. Prindiville says, "I enjoy being the vice president of instruction because it allows me the opportunity to be a 'cheerleader for a positive change.' It allows me to work with many groups of people and encourage them to think outside normal parameters. Most of all my job allows me to be creative and find ways to make a difference in the college that I serve."

Prindiville credits much of her success to her experiences at UW-Platteville. "The educational foundation that I received gave me a knowledge base to work in the health industry. I applied many of the life lessons and valuable skills that I learned from the many opportunities that I had while working with professors such as Dr. Thomas Lundeen, Dr. Robert Velzy, Dr. Jerry Strohm and Dr. Dwight Klaassen as I pursued the corporate ladder in educational administration. Dr. Strohm and Dr. Klaassen required excellence from their students. They promoted the idea to be 'critical thinkers' when analyzing experiments and learning outcomes. Even my work-study experiences on the student banquet crew have helped me reach my goals. I learned the art of presentation and executing large events, skills that I used as the director of marketing, publications and conferences at UW-Madison, Center on Education and Work. Those skills helped me to increase the attendance at a nationally acclaimed careers conference from 500 to 1,800. I also utilized those skills when I orchestrated at satellite downlink from Washington D.C. to Portland, Ore. and Milwaukee. The downlink featured U.S. secretaries of education and labor and discussed school-to-work issues," Prindiville states.

She concluded, "I would recommend studying at UWP because it is a small, friendly campus with professors who care about their students. It's a safe environment where students can concentrate on their studies. The college is known for its excellent educational programs as well as athletic program successes. Lastly, I would like to tell UWP students that they can overcome most adverse situations to attain a college degree if they put their minds to it. Degrees from UW-Platteville will open doors for them in places around the world and opportunities that they have not even thought about today.

Students need to have goals that they aspire to every day to become successful. As Norman Vincent Peale writes, 'Every day remind yourself of your own ability, of your good mind and affirm that you can make something really good out of your life.' The world will become a better place because of it."

Prindiville resides in La Crosse where she enjoys attending theater, arts, and symphony events as well as golfing and biking along the Mississippi River. She has two children, Mark, a mechanical engineer in San Jose, Calif., and Lianne, who is a doctor of medicine, currently an anesthesiology resident at UW-Madison.