Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - "Because of you, I love what I do," said Matt Schmitz about his former teacher, professor Wayne Weber, the chair of the biology department and the 2005-06 recipient of the Thomas and Lee Ann Lindahl Teaching Excellence Award. Schmitz said he would not be where he is today, teaching health and physical education, without Weber.

In his office, Weber displays a bulletin board full of thank you cards and letters from past students.

Matt McGowan, in one of the letters, stated, "You have inspired me to be a person of honesty and integrity, and to always realize all of the great things that I have, no matter how bad things may seem. ... I have loved the classes I have had with you in every aspect and I can honestly say that I aim to be a man like you. ... I am amazed at how you appreciate all of the small things in life, and especially how much you love your job. Without knowing it, you have played one of the biggest roles in helping me through some of the toughest times in my life."

The Lindahl Award, originated by Thomas Lindahl, former dean of the College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture (BILSA), honors BILSA instructors exhibiting exceptional teaching standards and practices.

Duane Ford, dean of BILSA, said, "Wayne Weber is very highly regarded by his students and his colleagues. He does great work for UW-Platteville in and out of the classroom. It is a pleasure to see someone so deserving receive recognition for his wonderful work."

Weber began teaching at UWP in 1997 and has since accumulated a number of awards and honors such as influential professor from Academic Honor Athletes, creating a positive learning environment for special needs students from Students Planning for Success, Phi Kappa Phi Excellence in Teaching Award, Alpha Lamda Delta Outstanding Professor in the National Sciences Award, Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Academic Advising Award and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society Leadership Award.

One of Weber's colleagues, also a professor of biology, Kris Wright, commented, "Wayne is quite simply one of the best educators I have ever been associated with. Wayne inspires and energizes everyone around him (students, faculty and staff). He is caring, thoughtful and joyful without compromising his high expectations."

Weber's students consistently give him positive reviews for his teaching abilities in all classes as demonstrated by his average of 4.8 of 5 on student evaluations until 2005, and a 4.9 in 2005.

No doubt, these scores reflect his teaching philosophy, in which he states, "Effective teachers have high, but reasonable expectations, treat students with respect and as peers, have and exhibit honesty and integrity, exhibit enthusiasm, and utilize multiple teaching methodologies to engage students in the learning process and to appeal to many different learning styles."

Regarding expectations, Weber said, "Sometimes students do struggle, but it doesn't change how I feel about them as people. I think we have great teachers on this campus because we all really care, regardless of grades."

As chair of the biology department, Weber teaches half-time: anatomy and physiology, essentials of anatomy and physiology, and human gross anatomy. He also facilitates many independent research projects with students and colleagues.

Currently, he participates in research on the phylogenetics of brittlestars and the genetics of local trout populations. Recently, he has been heavily involved in scholarship of teaching and learning projects, involving research, presentations and publications. Continuously, he works toward placing students in jobs, graduate programs, and internships. Weber said efforts like these from all our faculty have contributed to the biology department's 83 percent graduate and professional school placement rate, which is well above the national average.

"Perhaps the most important value of effective teachers, that encompasses all the others, is one of caring," Weber said and continues, "I feel a good teacher should care about the students, their ambitions, goals, and learning. There is nothing like meeting a former student and finding out that somehow you have made a difference in their life. This is why I love to teach, and to me, it is really what life is about, making a difference."

This award was funded by the UWP Foundation.

Contact: Duane Ford, dean, College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture, (608) 342-1547, fordd@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: April Schmidt, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,schmidap@uwplatt.edu