LEADERS
Sheila Knox was recognized with an honorary doctorate at the Oshkosh campus’ 54th Midyear Commencement ceremony in December. She is a member of the Oshkosh 94, the group of former Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh students who, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 1968—Black Thursday—expressed their commitment to inclusive ideals and goals for the institution with a demonstration in the administration office.
Engineering professor Jamie Douglas, of the Fox Valley campus, developed one of the country’s first at-home lab kits for online students that allows them to transform their kitchens into laboratories. Her innovative design of online engineering courses led to Douglas receiving the 2018 UW Colleges Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
In October, John Koker was named UW Oshkosh’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. As the first to hold the position since UWO became a multi-campus institution, Koker will work to expand the academic mission and community engagement, spur economic development and contribute to building a strong community in northeastern Wisconsin.
Through Kaitlyn Hurst’s leadership of the Multicultural Club, the Fond du Lac campus was officially recognized as a Fair Trade University, joining the Fond du Lac community and the Oshkosh campus in bringing awareness of this important issue to the region. Hurst is a med tech student from Mayville.
In September, the Higher Learning Commission reaffirmed UW Oshkosh’s status as an accredited institution of higher education. The 10-year accreditation stands until the next reaffirmation appointment in 2028-2029.
Martin Rudd, assistant chancellor of the Fond du Lac and Fox Valley campuses and chemistry professor, was named an American Chemical Society Fellow for 2018.
The international student population at the Fox Valley campus grew from 13 to 75 this year in partnership with Kings Education, an international program specializing in placement of students seeking a college education in the United States.
Alumni Shawn Monroe ’08, MPA ’13, of Oshkosh, and Kathryn Werginz ’09, of Waupaca, were honored as the 2018 Veterans of the Game during a Titan football matchup against UW-Stout in November.
RESEARCHERS
The UW System Board of Regents awarded Oshkosh campus analytical chemist Yijun Tang a prestigious, one-time, $50,000 Regents Scholar grant for his project Enzyme-Free Glucose Sensors Composed of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Nanosized Metal Particles.
Midyear Oshkosh graduate and McNair Scholar Terrace Davis, of Champaign, Illinois, worked with faculty mentor James Krueger on research centered on poverty, inconsistency in drug laws and racial inequalities—areas that continue to impact his life and that of other people of color.
Three Oshkosh campus biologists were awarded prestigious NIH grants for critical health science research. Neurophysiologist Dana Merriman is part of a team of researchers working to accelerate the development of regenerative treatments for blindness. Gut immunologist Courtney Kurtz and parasitologist Michelle “Shelly” Michalski are working on treating metabolic syndrome and obesity in humans and finding a cure for the tropical disease known as lymphatic filariasis, respectively.
Engineering professor Warren Vaz, of the Fox Valley campus, is working on a clean energy micro-grid demonstration involving a 10-kilowatt solar panel array and an electric basic utility vehicle that is being built by engineering students.
Long-time friends, neighbors and chemistry department colleagues James Paulson and Linfeng Xie had an extraordinary 2018. Their work was published twice in the prestigious scientific journal Science, contributing greatly to the field of biochemistry with research on cell cycle regulation.
Two UW Oshkosh research teams have been awarded seed grants from the Sustainability Institute for Regional Transformations. One team, which includes faculty members Melissa Bublitz ’96, MBA ’02, Sara Steffes Hansen, Kristine Nicolini and Maria Novotny will focus on empowering faculty to be more effective in sharing their research and knowledge with the public, building a supportive community for advancing sustainability in the region and state. The other team, which includes faculty and staff members Stewart Cole, Misty McPhee, Lisa Mick, Linda Pereksta and Brad Spanbauer ’11, MS ’14, will analyze bird deaths associated with window strikes on campus and propose potential solutions.
Graduating senior Hannah Thorn, a public relations major from West Salem, was chosen to present her research, Framing the NFL Players National Anthem Protests: Alignment and or Opposition to Organizational Messaging, at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
CHAMPIONS
UW System honored Amney Harper, assistant professor of professional counseling on the Oshkosh campus, with a 2018 Dr. P.B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People for helping to create a safer and more inclusive climate for LGBTQ+ people.
The Fox Valley campus soccer team captured the 2018 championship at the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference soccer tournament, the second straight league crown for the Cyclones. The Fond du Lac campus Falcons won the regular season soccer title, finishing with a perfect 6-0 record.
Kayoung Kim, assistant psychology professor on the Fond du Lac campus, and Mai Khou Xiong, assistant director of multicultural retention programs on the Oshkosh campus, received 2018 Outstanding Women of Color in Education awards from UW System. Jean Kwaterski ’85, MBA ’87, executive director of campus life at Oshkosh, received the Edwin R. Golden Award for Inclusive Excellence from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services for her outstanding campus leadership and efforts to promote cultural awareness and inclusion.
After presenting Comparative Analysis of Math Teacher Training Programs, Alex Siebers, a secondary math education senior from Sherwood, was awarded first place at Oshkosh’s WiSys Quick Pitch competition last November. UW Oshkosh’s Public Relations Student Society of America
Dr. Julie Henderson Chapter was awarded first place in the National Organ Donor Awareness Campaign for its Cycle of Life Campaign—topping 66 other universities with its inspiring public relations campaign promoting organ donation.
The UW System Regents honored UW Oshkosh’s Titan Advantage Program—a summer bridge program for incoming underrepresented, low-income and first-generation college students to earn four to six college credits the summer prior to their first year—with a Regents’ Diversity Award in February.