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Released: May 20, 2002

Psychology professor retiring after 36 years at UWSP

A professor who took a winding road to get where he is today will retire from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point after 36 years in the Psychology Department.

Professor Daniel Kortenkamp, an expert in transpersonal psychology, altered states of consciousness and parapsychology, looked forward to every class at UWSP, he said, and will miss teaching courses that excited him.

"We had an excellent department, supportive colleagues and complete academic freedom, plus the community was a good place to raise kids," said Kortenkamp, who received the Chancellor's Merit Award for Service and University Excellence in Teaching Award while at UWSP.

Psychology was not his first career choice, however. Kortenkamp aspired to be a mail carrier in his small hometown of Oelwein, Iowa. After graduating from high school he worked at various jobs for two years until finally being called up by the post office. When he was put to work selling stamps and weighing packages, he quit, and some friends talked him into going to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.

After three different science related majors in three years, Kortenkamp settled on psychology his senior year. "My bright idea was to attend graduate school and become a high school guidance counselor to help students like me decide on a major," he said. However, lacking teaching experience, he was not accepted into a guidance counseling program. Kortenkamp instead earned a master’s degree in counseling in the Psychology Department at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

During the summers of his college years, Kortenkamp worked as a machine operator at the John Deere factory, and hitchhiked over 20,000 miles across America during his time off. In the late 50s he was waiting at a toll bridge in Savannah, Ga., when a big gold-colored Cadillac pulled up. After Kortenkamp got in, the driver introduced himself as Little Richard. He still has the road map autographed by the rock and roll star.

After teaching at St. Francis University, Fort Wayne, Ind., Kortenkamp came to UWSP and was able to earn his Ph.D. at St. Louis University through teacher improvement leave. He developed two new and popular courses while at UWSP, Consciousness and Parapsychology. His interest in these subjects was the result of comments and suggestions from his students, he said, as well as the fact that the topics were not included in other psychology courses.

Kortenkamp’s interests include brain research, sleep and dreaming, hypnosis, meditation, mystical experiences and parapsychological phenomena. While he has not had a psychic experience himself, he says that it is the high quality of research on this topic that interests him.

In retirement, Kortenkamp plans to spend time with his elderly father and finish remodeling projects at home while his wife, Janet, continues her work as director of religious education for St. Stephen’s parish in Stevens Point. He also will continue to pursue his interest in genealogy, as he’s traced his and his wife’s ancestors back to the 1500s.

Other plans include running in marathons again, taking more motorcycle trips and traveling with his wife to visit their nine children, who live across the United States. Kortenkamp’s work in higher education rubbed off on his kids, as four have doctorates, another is a doctoral candidate, two have master’s degrees, one has a bachelor’s degree and one is in college.

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