MADISON—Four University of Wisconsin System professors have been named the winners of the 2003 Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Awards. The annual awards go to four outstanding teachers from UW System campuses located within the Alliant service area.
This year’s recipients are:
- Elizabeth Frieders, Associate Professor of Biology, UW-Platteville.
- Karen McLeer, Associate Professor of English, UW-Richland.
- George Mejicano, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Assistant Dean of Continuing Medical Education, UW-Madison Medical School.
- Catherine Middlecamp, Distinguished Faculty Associate of Chemistry, and Director of the Chemistry Learning Center, UW-Madison.
The awards program represents a partnership that began in 1991 between the UW System and the Wisconsin Power and Light (WPL) Foundation (now part of Alliant Energy). That year, Erroll Davis, CEO of WPL Holdings and a UW System regent at the time, created the awards as a way to recognize and reward outstanding teachers in the UW System.
The awards are given in honor of James R. Underkofler, a long-time senior executive with the company, who retired in 1990. The awards pay tribute to Underkofler’s enduring interest in encouraging and promoting undergraduate teaching excellence.
The awards program is administered by the UW System Office of Professional and Instructional Development. A UW System committee composed of faculty and teaching academic staff selects the finalists from candidates nominated by eligible institutions.
UW System President Katharine C. Lyall presented this year’s awards at a ceremony in Van Hise Hall on the UW-Madison campus on Friday (Oct. 17).