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.

2024 Recipients


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.


All Recipients

2023-24

  • Chelsea Andrews, Lecturer, Department of Psychology
  • Ingrid Jordon-Thaden, Botany Garden and Greenhouses Director, Department of Botany
  • Léa Gustin, Teaching Faculty IV (Associate General Chemistry Lab Director), Department of Chemistry

2022-23

  • Maria Hartwig, Academic Advising Manager, Department of Psychology
  • Laura Schmidli, Instructional Technology & Engagement Specialist, L&S Instructional Design Collaborative

2021-22

  • Antonella Caloro, Instructional Technologist, L&S Instructional Design Collaborative
  • Julie Lindsey, Department Administrator, Department of Integrative Biology

2020-21

  • Kaitlin Koehler, International Directions Adviser, Language Institute
  • Tracey Reitz, Associate Faculty Associate, Chemistry Learning Center

2019-20

  • Mary Ann Feist, Senior Academic Curator within the Wisconsin State Herbarium of the Department of Botany
  • Bob Wiedenhoeft, Instructional Support Specialist/Advisor, Center for Academic Excellence

2018-19

  • Soledad Benguria-Andrews, Assistant Faculty Associate, Mathematics Department
  • Stacy Forster, Faculty Associate, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
  • Elizabeth Leith, Academic Curator, Department of Anthropology

2017-18

  • Carmela Diosana, Student Services Coordinator, Department of Botany
  • Ellen Hamann, Senior Research Specialist, Center for Limnology
  • Valerie Johnson, Student Services Coordinator, Department of Psychology
  • Benjamin Schultz-Burkel, Assistant Director, Mead Witter School of Music

2016-17

  • Hilary Shager, La Follette School of Public Affairs
  • Libby Dowdall, Department of Chemistry
  • Michael Kruse, Language Institute
  • Brian Esselman, Department of Chemistry

2015-16

  • Stephen Block, Assistant Director of the General Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry
  • Linnea Burk, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychology
  • Elizabeth Foste, Careers and Outreach Coordinator, Department of Economics
  • Jesse Steinberg, Faculty Associate & Assistant to the Chair Department of Philosophy

2014-15

  • Desiree Bates, Computational Chemistry Leader, Department of Chemistry
  • Adam Hinterthuer, University Relations Specialist, Department of Limnology
  • Oh Hoon Kwon, Course Supervisor for the Mathematics 13x series, Department of Mathematics
  • Russell Portier, Assistant to the Directors, School of Social Work

2013-14

  • Carol Warden, Associate Outreach Specialist, Center for Limnology
  • Tiziana Serafini, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of French & Italian
  • Cheri Barta Rossi, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of Chemistry

2012-13

  • Melanie Jones, Faculty Associate, Department of Psychology
  • Laura Halverson Monahan, Senior Academic Curator, Department of Zoology
  • Dorothea Salo, Faculty Associate, School of Library & Information Studies
  • Chad Wilkinson, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of Chemistry

2011-12

  • Danielle Benden, Senior Academic Curator, Department of Anthropology
  • Allison Kaplan, Faculty Associate, School of Library & Information Studies

2010-11

  • Nancy Linh Karls, Faculty Associate, The Writing Center in the Department of English
  • Shirin Malekpour, Faculty Associate, Department of Mathematics

2009-10

  • Marilyn Larsen, Assistant Director, Center for Limnology
  • Byung-jin Lim, Associate Faculty Associate, East Asian Languages & Literature
  • Jaime Stoltenberg, Map and GIS Librarian, Department of Geography

2008-09

  • Erlin Barnard, Faculty Associate, Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia
  • Ilia Guzei, Senior Scientist, Department of Chemistry

2007-08

  • Ron Harris, Academic Staff, Department of English.
  • Dianna Murphy, Academic Staff, The Language Institute

2006-07

  • Shea Ramey, Academic Staff, Chemistry Learning Center
  • Richard Slaughter, Academic Staff, Geology and Geophysics

2005-2006

  • Melissa Tedrowe, Academic Staff, Department of English

2004-2005

  • Patrick Barrett, Academic Staff, the Havens Center in the Department of Sociology
  • Emily B. Hall, the Writing Center in the Department of English

2003-2004

  • Jeff Henriques, Department of Psychology

2002-2003

  • Ron Cramer, Learning Support Services

2001-2002

  • Grace Krewson, Department of English

Nominate an excellent early career staff member.

Please contact the PDRC for more information about the Academic Staff Awards.