UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Distinguished Teacher

1990 - Duane Wachholz

Duane WachholzDewey Wachholz was voted by graduating seniors and third- and fifth-year graduates as the Distinguished Teacher for 1989. It is the signal award for teaching at an institution whose primary mission is undergraduate education.

Wachholz is noted for his ability to remember animals that he has judged in his role as a livestock specialist at the Wisconsin State Fair and various county fairs. UWRF students who showed animals will ask if he remember such and such an animal, and find that he does. His natural friendliness, which is bolstered through two decades of socializing with young people as a half-time UW System Extension Specialist involved in 4-H, Future Farmers of America, and fair judging, gives him a rapport with young people.

His teaching style of open discussion does more than provide the professional information that students need; it teaches the intellectual skills to think and to evaluate.

Wachholz has held a dual appointment in the college of Agriculture and with the UW System Extension Service.