Each year, the Dean of the College of Letters & Science offers awards recognizing outstanding performance, service, and contributions by L&S Academic Staff members.
The L&S Academic Staff Awards honor staff who have demonstrated exemplary performance both in terms of their positive impact on students and through distinctive contributions to their department, unit, and/or the College of Letters & Science.
We salute and offer congratulations to the winners of the 2023-24 awards:
ACADEMIC STAFF: EARLY CAREER AWARD
Recipients of the L&S Academic Staff Early Career Award must have 0-7 years’ (including the current year) experience and demonstrate outstanding performance, promise of future contributions and a high degree of professionalism.
Chelsea Andrews
Lecturer
Department of Psychology
Chelsea Andrews embodies the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea. Not only is her course load highly desired by undergraduate students but the greater Madison area wants it, too.
“Chelsea’s courses are highly sought after by senior guest auditors from the community,” said Kristin Shutts, a professor and associate chair for undergraduate studies within the Department of Psychology. “Chelsea regularly has up to 40 guest auditors every time she teaches online. This means the community is also benefiting from Chelsea’s talents.”
Shutts describes Andrews as a generous teacher, an eager problem solver and a true team player.
“I know of no other early career academic staff with as much passion for teaching,” said Morton Ann Gernsbacher, another psychology professor. “Chelsea’s been a workhorse for our department, taking on every assignment asked of her and doing so with confidence and aptitude.”
During the pandemic, Andrews created a makeshift recording studio to ensure the highest audio quality for her lecture videos. She also ensured that all lectures had high visibility captions. She even read all 400 discussion posts — every week — from her students in Psychology 202.
“Students felt known by Chelsea and they knew she was invested in their learning,” said Melanie Jones, the department’s undergraduate program manager.
Abdullah Marei, who graduated from the department last year and is now pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Toronto, agrees. He was inspired by Andrews to pursue psychology at a graduate level.
“Her zeal and enthusiasm as an instructor inspired me to think about what it is that I am really passionate about,” he said. “I was unsure about pursuing psychology as a career due to parental, cultural and personal pressures to pursue a medical degree.
“Seeing Dr. Andrews’ passion and joy when teaching was one of the things that has helped me commit to a future in psychology,” he added
Ingrid Jordon-Thaden
Botany Garden and Greenhouses Director
Department of Botany
As Director of the Botany Garden and Greenhouses, Ingrid Jordon-Thaden is tasked with overseeing the operations of the green spaces. But she takes her role a step further, serving as a teacher and mentor to create a variety of learning opportunities for students that come through the greenhouses.
“Ingrid is both knowledgeable and skilled in her roles of running the botany greenhouses and the gardens but also in her tireless efforts to improve and extend their impacts on research and teaching,” said Simon Gilroy, a professor in the Department of Botany.
After joining the team in 2017, Jordon-Thaden has established herself as a problem solver, developing plans and strategies to improve the green spaces. Between 2021 and 2023, as construction around Birge Hall affected the greenhouses and gardens, she served as a point of contact with construction teams and created plans to pivot.
“Ingrid understands that she needs to take a long-term view of getting all issues solved and has developed plans to succeed,” said Kenneth Systma, the chair of the Department of Botany.
Jordon-Thaden has also taught classes within the department, including a survey course, general botany and organismal botany. She even led a field course in Alaska where students completed research projects.
“She is an exceptional teacher and mentor of students and her employees, through direct teaching and mentoring and by leveraging the Botany Garden and Greenhouses to provide learning opportunities for students,” said Cara Streeksta, a living collections manager for the gardens and greenhouses.
Ultimately, Jordon-Thaden’s commitment to botany transcends the boundaries of the greenhouses and gardens into the classroom.
“Ingrid combines a real depth of plant knowledge with the ‘can do’ attitude to always be there to lend the needed helping hand,” Gilroy said
Léa Gustin
Teaching Faculty IV (Associate General Chemistry Lab Director)
Department of Chemistry
In 2019, when the Department of Chemistry experienced a polar vortex-induced water main burst resulting in extreme flooding in its building, Léa Gustin, a teaching faculty member and associate general chemistry lab director, took charge. And this was just two weeks into starting her job.
Then, in 2020, the pandemic came along, and Gustin tackled a daunting question facing the department: How does one teach a laboratory course remotely?
“Once again, Dr. Gustin sprang to action, utilizing lessons learned from the flood to help the program to pivot to a more extended mode of remote teaching,” said Chad Wilkinson, the general chemistry lab director. “Her enthusiasm for her role in the department and her optimism in the face of multiple overwhelming challenges leads me to believe that whatever wellspring she draws upon must be bottomless.”
In her role, Gustin oversees anywhere from 40 to 60 lab assistants during a given semester. But her impact is more than just ensuring the programming runs smoothly.
“Others could have shepherded the logistical aspects of the program’s growth,” said Stephen Block, another assistant general chemistry lab director. “I am not sure that anyone else could have cultivated such an uplifting, diverse community of budding scientists.”
Former lab assistants describe Gustin as “encouraging, respectful, and dedicated,” emphasizing her “kind and caring personality.”
“Léa’s consistent efforts to provide a welcoming, supportive, and educational environment reflect how passionately she cares about the lab assistant program, her students, and her work,” said Macy Vander Pas, a lab assistant who graduated from the university during the spring of 2023.
See full list of past L&S Early Career Awards at this link.
ACADEMIC STAFF: MID-CAREER AWARD
Recipients of the L&S Academic Staff Mid-Career Award must have 8 or more years’ (including the current year) experience as outstanding leaders with substantial professional competency and the promise of continuing contributions.
Audrey Conn
Director of Field Education and Clinical Professor
Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work
Audrey Conn is described as a “gifted instructor” in the classroom, in the greater Madison area and across the state.
“It is due to her dedication to field education that our school’s program is widely recognized throughout Wisconsin for the stellar quality of its graduates,” said Tracy Schoepfer, a professor in the school.
As the director of field education, Conn is responsible for the professionally supervised field placements of almost 300 students a year. She maintains relationships with agencies and matches students with different social work roles as she sees fit.
“Audrey brings so much to this community, and truly is responsible for the amazing partnership between the School of Social Work and the professional social workers and agencies in the field,” said Jennifer Ginsburg, the executive director of child advocacy center Safe Harbor. “Audrey is gifted in her work with students.”
Conn’s experience as a social worker in child welfare, before joining the school in 2008, informs her empathetic guidance and instruction in the community and the classroom.
“Audrey has a unique ability to identify the value that each person brings to the table in addressing big picture issues and she is able to call upon her vast network when challenging issues need to be considered and moved forward,” said Julie Ahnen, a child protective services manager for Dane County.
Ultimately, Conn’s efforts have already had a lasting impact on the school and its students as they enter the workforce.
“She embodies the Wisconsin Idea,” said Stephanie Robert, the director of the school. “She is a dedicated educator who has created high quality applied learning opportunities for our future social workers who will serve our most vulnerable families and communities.”
Edward J. (Teddy) Kaul
Academic Advising Manager
Department of Art History
Teddy Kaul’s paramount success as an academic advising manager for the Department of Art History can be seen in the numbers.
Between Fall 2021 and Fall 2023, the department has increased enrollment by approximately 87% as the total number of students pursuing the major and certificate grew to 25%. And Kaul has played an integral role in this boost.
“It is not hyperbolic to say that Teddy has helped transform the department, increased its vibrancy, and relevance to UW students,” said Jennifer Pruitt, the Howard and Ellen Louise Schwartz Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture. “None of these changes would have been possible without the vision and follow-through of Teddy.”
Over the last 11 years, Kaul has rigorously promoted the art history department and its programming at Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR), and added class sections and received support for additional teaching assistants — all while helping faculty rethink how to make art history more relevant to prospective students.
“Teddy showed us the practical steps we could take in communicating what we know about the critical relevance of our discipline to the most significant issues of our time — from addressing racism to understanding the visual and material influence of religious ideas and the problems of power, agency, and interpretation that give rise to conspiracy theory,” said Jill Casid, a professor and the director of graduate studies in the department.
For members of the faculty, Kaul’s work has propelled the Department of Art History forward within the college and the university as a whole.
“The transformative achievement here is not just the spectacular rise but also and especially that what Teddy led us in building is a firm foundation of discovery courses that attract students not otherwise in our orbit, stir their interest, and direct that curiosity to learn to what might be a change of major or, more realistically, the possibility of adding the new certificate,” Casid added.
Susan Koenig
Assistant Dean for Academic Deans' Services
L&S Student Academic Affairs
Ensuring student success is central to the work of Susan Koenig.
“Her ability to nurture and challenge students to develop the critical skills and underlying
competencies needed for them to engage in and steer their own educational journey while also
equitably applying UW-Madison and L&S policy is truly exceptional,” said Beth Warner, the deputy university registrar.
Koenig has a strong command of university and L&S-specific policies and procedures, but she makes it simple for her colleagues and students across the college.
“The UW-Madison campus can be a big, confusing, place with a lot of rules,” said Brian Bischel, the assistant director for Cross-College Advising Services. “While a lot of these rules can seem rather straightforward, applying them to real-life situations can be exceedingly
difficult and complex.”
“Because of this, we need people like Susan who thrive when helping others navigate through them,” Bischel added.
Throughout her 11 years at UW, Koenig has ultimately ensured the prolonged success of academic services for students.
“In these spaces it’s not enough to simply know the policy and care about students,” said Patrick Johnson, senior assistant dean of undergraduate student services for the School of Human Ecology. “Susan often contributes innovative solutions, takes the lead in finding consensus and making thoughtful decisions, and creating the tools and documentation to ensure practices are sustainable.”
See full list of past L&S Mid-Career Awards at this link.
ACADEMIC STAFF: JUDITH CRAIG DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
The Judith Craig Distinguished Service Award honors an L&S academic staff member with 15 or more years of outstanding service, and is named in honor of former L&S Associate Dean Judith Craig.
Denise Wiyaka
Director
American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program
Since Denise Wiyaka’s 2021 appointment as Director of the American Indian & Indigenous Studies (AIIS) Program, the number of certificate students has tripled while overall student enrollment has quadrupled.
“Under her visionary leadership, the AIIS program has experienced significant growth and transformation, making our program attractive to students seeking a rigorous and enriching educational experience,” said Kasey Keeler, an assistant professor with the AIIS Program and the School of Human Ecology.
Wiyaka has been a “champion” of the program for more than 23 years, seeking to boost Indigenous studies as a discipline across campus while enhancing the Native student experience through recruitment and retention efforts.
“Her collaborative spirit inspires faculty and students to engage in innovative projects that transcend traditional academic boundaries, contributing to the positive transformation of our institution,” said Carolee Dodge Francis, the chair of the School of Human Ecology.
The Elder In Residence program, which was established in 2018, serves as a perfect example of Wiyaka’s goal of infusing the program into the greater campus community.
“This program brings Native Elders to campus for educational exchanges, offering students access to vital cultural resources,” Francis said. “It also serves as a platform to strengthen partnerships between Tribal communities and the University while significantly improving the campus experience and retention of Native students.”
For those who have worked with Wiyaka, she exudes the collaborative spirit and patience required by a leader dedicated to maintaining and expanding Indigenous studies within the campus community.
“Parallel to the Wisconsin Idea, Denise wishes to share knowledge of Indigenous studies past the academic setting,” Keeler said. “Denise actively participates in programming spanning the university to uplift and promote the interdisciplinary study of Native cultures, communities, and histories.”
See full list of past L&S Mid-Career Awards at this link.