March 16, 2017
Cathy Middlecamp, a professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, is one of 12 UW-Madison faculty members chosen to receive this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, an honor given out since 1953 to recognize the university’s finest educators. Middlecamp will receive the Emil Steiger Teaching Award.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank and Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf will present the awards at a ceremony at 5 p.m. March 16 at the Fluno Center, 601 University Ave. The ceremony, sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association with support from the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, is free and open to the public.
Middlecamp was also recently honored with a Joint Legislative Citation from the offices of Wisconsin State Senator Mark Miller and Representative Jimmy Anderson, formally recognizing her many achievements and years of service through teaching at UW-Madison.
Middlecamp enhances student learning by providing well-structured opportunities for students to explore complex topics on their own and then share their findings and insights with one another. She understands the research on how students learn and brings those insights into the classroom every day. She always places whatever subject she is teaching in a broader context and has shown a deep appreciation of the need to help students to see how a particular bit of knowledge fits into a larger scheme.
Middlecamp is also a compassionate listener and advisor who teaches students how to navigate classrooms, subjects, academic institutions, and life. She sees her students as whole human beings, and she facilitates learning by treating them with respect and compassion while setting high standards for their performance.
Her stellar record not only of excellence in classroom teaching but also as a mentor and role model for students helps inspire her students as well as colleagues.
In this short video, Middlecamp describes what inspires her to teach.
Related:
- Women in science: Toward a more equitable workplace
- NSF grant bolsters Nelson Institute program supporting STEM students with financial need
- A cohort of support: Community Environmental Scholars Program celebrates five years of student and civic impact
- Middlecamp honored for encouraging disadvantaged students in chemical sciences