Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The University of Wisconsin System of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) has recently appointed Louis Nzegwu, professor of business administration at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, as a 2007-08 Wisconsin Teaching Scholar. Scholars are selected from UW System faculty and academic staff who have over 10 years of teaching experience, giving them the opportunity at mid-career to contemplate the nature of their own teaching and their students' learning. According to OPID, the Scholars program helps to develop a network of gifted teacher-scholars from throughout the UW System.

Nzegwu will attend OPID's Faculty College at the University of Wisconsin-Richland in May and the Summer Institute at UW-Madison in June. He will also complete a classroom research project during the fellowship year focusing on a best practice and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). For this project, Nzegwu will explore ways to increase students' understanding of cultural differences as they relate to international marketing courses. He will help students develop, through research, a process of learning about new cultures and places, including an appreciation for the impact of cultural, economic, political and regulatory forces on international marketing strategies.

"There will be great demand for students who possess thorough knowledge and understanding of the functioning of global business, sensitivity to the issues associated with doing business in the world marketplace and demonstrated creative leadership behavior within the global society. Every business professional will, at some time during his/her career, deal with colleagues, superiors, employees, consumers and competitors from other parts of the world. International business practitioners are no longer brushing aside culture as a vague, non-quantitative variable that will take care of itself, if proper business analyses have been accomplished. Providing our students with this cultural background knowledge is one way to meet this challenge," Nzegwu explained.

In nominating Nzegwu, Stephen Kleisath, chair of the department of business and accounting, noted Nzegwu's proven commitment to research and teaching in the field of global studies.

"He has many scholarly publications and made many presentations of his research. Louis has a passion for the teaching and application of knowledge in the international realm," said Kleisath.

Nzegwu has been teaching at UWP since 1991 and has authored or co-authored numerous scholarly papers in marketing, as well as finance, economics and management. He is the recipient of several awards, including the 2006 Wisconsin Governor's Export Achievement Award, the Lindahl Teaching Excellence Award and the 2004 UWP Teaching Excellence Award. Nzegwu is also the director of the UWP International Business Resource Center, which was established in 2002 as a major resource for international business education, community development and research in the southwestern Wisconsin area.

Contact: Stephen Kleisath, chair, UWP Department of Business and Accounting, (608) 342-1660,kleisath@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Evelyn Martens, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,martense@uwplatt.edu