Madison teacher among education alumni to be honored

A Madison teacher will be among those receiving alumni awards from the School of Education on Saturday, May 8.

Mark Wagler, who teaches fourth and fifth grades at Randall Elementary School, will receive the Lois Gadd Nemec Award, given to distinguished alumni of the elementary education program.

A longtime storyteller in Madison, Wagler has conducted performances and workshops for more than 700 schools and educational groups, from Connecticut to California. He is a past recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Receiving Alumni Achievement Awards from the School of Education will be:

• Richard Chait, one of the nation’s leading authorities on two important topics in higher education: academic tenure, and the boards that govern colleges and universities. He is a professor of education at Harvard; he previously held administrative and faculty positions at Penn State, Case Western, and the University of Maryland.
• Hubert Forster, who has spent more than 25 years as a professor of physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he has earned great respect as a teacher and mentor. Forster is internationally known for his scientific discoveries about the neurochemical regulation of breathing. For many years he served as a member of the Oconomowoc School Board.
• Barbara Kornblau, a professor of occupational therapy and public health at Nova Southeastern University in Miami. A practicing attorney, she also serves as president of ADA Consultants Inc., a firm that helps business and industry comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Karen Mesmer, who teaches middle-school science in Baraboo. Her skills in the classroom have earned her many honors, including the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching. She has published articles in science education journals and has served as president-elect of the national association for middle-school science teachers.

Recognized as Outstanding Recent Graduates are:

• Jennifer Grant Haworth, an assistant professor at Loyola University-Chicago. She is the co-author or co-editor of several books, including a groundbreaking study of master’s education and a volume about maintaining quality in academic programs.
• Helen Klebesadel, an associate professor of art at Lawrence University whose watercolor paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. She has served as national president of the Women’s Caucus for Art; in that capacity, she led a group of more than 100 female artists to China in 1995, to coincide with the United Nations conference on women.

The awards presentation will take place Saturday, May 8, at 9:30 a.m. in 204 Educational Sciences Building, 1025 W. Johnson St., as part of the School of Education’s annual alumni weekend program.

The guest speaker will be Kent Peterson, professor of educational administration, who will discuss ways of “Shaping Successful School Cultures.” For more information, contact the School of Education Alumni Office, (608) 262-0054.