Faculty and Staff Awards

Professor Nancy LoPatin-Lummis is an internationally renowned scholar. In her 34 years of service to UWSP, Nancy contributed immensely to the training, support, and success of her students in the Department of History and International Studies. She has mentored over a dozen students through the research and presentation process at the annual College of Letters and Science Research Symposium. She is proud to have mentored a student senior seminar paper which was published in The Historian soon after the student graduated from UWSP. Nancy’s scholarly career and devotion to student training is extraordinary.

She has a long history of university service at UWSP, serving on the History Department Curriculum Planning Committee, General Education Committee, and as chair of the University College Curriculum Committee, chair of the History Department, and interim coordinator of the International Studies major and minor.  She was part of the academic strategic planning for the UW System restructuring.  She developed and taught a dozen different classes in her teaching career.  Nancy has taught classes in European nationalism, Literature and History in Nineteenth Century Britain, and Modern French History.

Nancy has published, by herself or collaboratively, approximately 24 national and international, articles or books and provided dozens of scholarly book reviews.

Thanks in large part to the work of Professor Amy Zlimen Ticho, the UWSP Department of Social work is a well-respected, collaborative and CSWE-accredited program. Zlimen Ticho is the winner of the 2022 Eugene Katz Letters and Science Distinguished Faculty Award.

After she was named the Department of Sociology and Social Work Chairperson in 2018, she spearheaded the expansion of the Social Work Program to the Wausau and Marshfield campuses and later also successfully advocated for the expansion of the Sociology Program to the Wausau campus.  Recognizing the growing social work needs in north central Wisconsin, Professor Zlimen Ticho also facilitated the establishment of partnership between UW-Green Bay and UW-Stevens Point, which has brought the UWGB’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program to the UWSP-Wausau campus. In the meantime, she also played an instrumental role in the formation of the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences during the reorganization of the College of Letters and Science.

Working to foster positive change, Zlimen Ticho remains extensively involved in community-academic initiatives, including the Portage County Coalition for End-of-Life Care, Conversations About Care program, and Wisconsin Area Health Education Center. She has been recognized by world-renowned researchers and authors for her end-of-life research. Amy has presented at numerous workshops and conferences for statewide and national health care professionals.

She is a previous winner of the University Scholar Award in 2014 and the University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005. Throughout her 20-plus years at UWSP, Amy has developed and taught a wide range of courses in the social work curriculum.

Her nominator said Amy is a trusted and respected colleague and leader who fosters a positive working environment and a teamwork culture.

Dona Warren is one of the most respected and dedicated members of the UW-Stevens Point faculty with high achievements in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Among her many teaching, administrative, and scholarship accomplishments, she is perhaps best known on campus for working to integrate critical thinking into teaching a variety of disciplines.

Bob is an outstanding teacher in and out of the classroom, highly committed to student success. His course evaluations are consistently high, and he has a very positive reputation among students. His success is evidenced by being awarded the University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004. Throughout his time at UW-Stevens Point, Bob has taught a wide variety of courses, demonstrating his versatility as an educator. His particular expertise in the field of gerontology is truly beneficial to our students. Professor Enright is student-centered, striving to stay current in his classes and meet the changing needs of our student population. He developed courses to meet the Communication in the Major requirement and facilitated courses and supervised students during three semester-abroad experiences. He extends his teaching outside the classroom, with his participation in the Learning Is Forever (LIFE) Program, other community forums and at the Oxford Correctional Institution.

Professor Enright also has a strong track record as a scholar. Of special significance among his publications is the book titled “Perspectives in Social Gerontology.” Additionally, Bob has an impressive list of refereed papers and presentations he has given on various topics over the years. He has demonstrated success in securing funding for projects through grants. He has twice been awarded a sabbatical, and was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging in which he conducted research on family members who provided care for adult victims of chronic brain disorders. Most recently, he presented at the 2016 Conference on the Small City and Regional Community on the topic of urban/rural differences in crime.

Bob’s service record is also impressive. He provided leadership within the Department of Sociology and Social Work, through his role as chair since 2002. He has coordinated the gerontology minor since 1985 and has coordinated the sociology internship program since 2009. During his time in the department he has served on every committee. Bob has served on multiple university committees, including Faculty Senate, the University Affairs Committee and the Program Review Committee.

Professor Enright was extensively involved in developing a Council on Social Work Education accredited social work program at UW-Stevens Point. The development of this program involved significant changes in the curriculum and has required important personnel decisions. Bob was involved in numerous committee meetings to prepare accreditation documents, design the program, and form policy. Our department now houses two successful and interdependent majors. Our success with this initiative is owed, in part, to Dr. Enright’s leadership and commitment to both disciplines represented in the department.

A member of the Bad River Band of Chippewa, Sonny is the first Native American faculty member to be tenured at UW-Stevens Point. Throughout his career, Professor Smart has demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. He is committed to our students, department, institution and community.

One of Sonny’s most significant accomplishments during his time at UW-Stevens Point has been developing an accredited social work program. He was initially hired to teach Introduction to Social Work and the generalist practice courses in the Department of Sociology, and he later spearheaded the development of a Native American and Rural Social Work minor. Developing an accredited social work major was no small task. It involved extensive curriculum and policy development, as well as collaboration with personnel across campus and in the community. Sonny demonstrated considerable leadership and skill throughout this process and was instrumental in its success.

Sonny’s colleagues are impressed by his ability to engage with students, get them to critically think about their own views and the world around them, and consider new approaches to resolving complex issues. He is creative in his style, weaving in cultural stories and real-world examples. He takes students beyond the classroom in ways that are significant to them. For years he took students in one class to the Lac Du Flambeau Reservation for a field trip, and more recently he has taken them off-campus to demonstrate the sweat lodge ceremony. Through such activities, Professor Smart affords our students access to a world that is often restricted from the general public.

Sonny’s contributions to his home department as well as students across campus have been significant. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses in both sociology and social work. He is always willing to be a guest presenter in colleagues’ classes.  Professor Smart is known as a leading expert on campus regarding Native American culture and other diversity issues. He has further benefitted campus by serving on Equity and Affirmation Action Search and Screen, Letters and Science Advisory Committee, as well as all of the department’s standing committees. He has also acted as mentor to African American, Latino, Hmong and Native American students as part of the institution’s Multi-Cultural Affairs initiative.

Professor Smart is also deserving of this recognition because of his significant work within the tribal communities across Wisconsin. He has worked with various state/tribal organizations such as the State Indian Child Welfare Program Directors Association, the Wisconsin Tribal Judges Association, the Wisconsin State Indian Child Welfare Act Advisory Board and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council. He serves as a tribal judge for the Bad River Band of Ojibwe. These interactions have allowed him to stay current in child welfare practice, family law, cultural competence, mental health and policy changes, while also providing expertise to the tribes and universities in the Great Lakes region as well as nationally.

Recently retired as chair of the Department of World Languages and Literatures, Richard has been a dedicated teacher, both respected and liked, by the many German students he has taught during the past three decades. During his career he has taught nearly every course in the German curriculum, having focused on language, literature and culture. He is viewed as a rigorous professor who seeks to challenge his students to do the very best they can, yet in the end he is known for awarding them fair grades.

Richard believes that German is a window to another world. He encourages his students to use the language as a key to unlocking another culture, another way of viewing the world and oneself. Critical thinking and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary thinking is as central to his classroom as language learning. One simply has to learn how to do this all in German. As an adviser, he has travelled that extra length to help his German   students — and as chair all students of World Languages — to succeed. He has written hundreds of letters of recommendation for his students, sending them off to graduate school, medical school, veterinary school and dentistry school. He has been adviser to the German Club since 1985.

He is perhaps most broadly known for his longtime service on the University Personnel Development Committee, on which he served for 14 years and chaired seven times. He was also a Faculty Senator for 12 years and served on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for seven years. He chaired the University Awards Committee for two years. He was a member of the Graduate Council for two years. He has served on the Phi  Kappa Phi Executive Board since 2002 and is currently its president for the second time.

Richard has also been an adviser to the UWSP Ski and Snowboard Club for the past 12 years and has accompanied them on every January ski trip to various resorts in the Rockies. Through it all he became the respected face of the Department of Foreign Languages, now World Languages and Literatures. Across the campus, everyone in every college, including all the deans, know Richard personally and identify him with World Languages, for whom he has been a persevering advocate. It is hardly a surprise that Richard received the University Service Award in 2011.

Sol Sepsenwol has been a faculty member at UW-Stevens Point since 1978. After receiving both his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in Physiology at the University of Chicago, he worked at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Northwestern University Medical School. He was originally hired at UW-Stevens Point as a human physiology professor, but now also teaches upper-level Biology classes that he has developed ranging from electron microscopy to human reproduction. Sol has served as an advisor to the UWSP Pre-Medical Society since 1980, as UWSP coordinator for the Goldwater Excellence in Science Scholarships since 1994, and co-directs the electron microscope lab.

His research on the sperm cell of an intestinal parasite has earned him four research grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health to support his work. Additionally, he has many nd varied publications and papers. Off campus, Sol rock climbs and has guided trips to Devil’s Lake with UWSP pre-med and other students from around campus.

John came to UW-Stevens Point in 2003 after earning his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Virginia and teaching at Baylor University.  His classroom teaching includes courses in constitutional law, civil rights, religion and politics, and European politics.  John’s book The Bible in the Park: Federal District Courts, Religious Speech and the Public Forum was nationally recognized as an in-depth study of First Amendment cases concerning religious speech and expression in public places.  His newest book, The U.S. Supreme Court and New Federalism: From the Rehnquist to the Roberts Court has been equally well received.  John’s frequent scholarly papers and presentations have earned him a considerable following among students of the courts. He has also served as department chair the past six years.

Department of History

Department of Foreign Languages

– Susan Brewer, Department of History

– Jeana Magyar-Moe, Department of Psychology

– ​Padmanabhan Sudevan, Department of Psychology

– Eric Singsaas, Department of Biology

– Marcia Parker, Department of Foreign Languages

– William Lawlor, Department of English

– Gary Itzkowitz Department of Sociology and Social Work

– Dennis Riley, Department of Political Science

– Jan Seiler, Department of Foreign Languages

• Erik Wild, Department of Biology

– Valentina Peguero, Department of History

• Robert Wolensky, Department of Sociology and Social Work

– Jim Canfield, Department of Political Science

– Steve Taft, Department of Biology

– Justus F. Paul, Dean of College of Letters and Science, Department of History

– Gail Skelton, Department of Sociology and Social Work

– Jianwei Wang, Department of Political Science

– Hamid Hekmat, Department of Psychology

– Donald L. Showwalter, Department of Chemistry

– C. Marvin Lang, Department of Chemistry

– Edward J. Miller, Department of Political Science

– Jack K. Reed, Department of Chemistry

-Lawrence Weiser, Department of Business and Economics

– C. Edward Gasque, Department of Biology

• James Stokes, Department of English