UW-Stevens Point names 2011 Distinguished Alumni Council
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will honor four alumni as members of the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Council on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the University Awards ceremony.
Honored for exceptional professional achievement, recognition and reputation beyond immediate environs, the council is made up of representatives from each of the university’s four colleges. The 2011 Distinguished Alumni Council includes Henry Leck, a 1969 graduate from Indianapolis, Ind., the Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Fine Arts & Communication; Robert Summerfelt, Ph.D., a 1957 graduate from Ames, Iowa, the Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Letters and Science; Jenny Baeseman, Ph.D., a 1998 graduate living in Tromsø, Norway, the Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Natural Resources; and Jeff Polzer, Ph.D., a 1988 graduate from Newton Center, Mass., the Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Professional Studies.
Leck, an internationally recognized choral director, is associate professor and director of choral activities at Butler University. He founded and is the artistic director of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, one of the largest of its kind in the world with 17 choirs and more than 2,500 students. He also has conducted the National Youth Choral Festival in Carnegie Hall, and a variety of choirs in nearly every state and every continent except Antarctica. He is well known as a specialist in choral techniques, children’s voice and Dalcroze Eurhythmics, has published “Creating Artistry through Choral Excellence” and created four teaching DVDs.
Summerfelt, professor emeritus at Iowa State University, has served on the faculty at four major Midwest universities and as a visiting professor at two others. He has advised 600 undergraduates and 400 graduate students, and 40 graduate students have completed their degrees under his supervision. His diverse research interests are represented by 186 publications in fish biology, parasitology, aquaculture, aquatic toxicology and lake aeration. In the last 20 years, he and his students have published 40 articles on the culture of walleye, including four major reviews. Over the summer he gave a presentation at UW-Stevens Point’s Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility.
Baeseman is the founding director of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), an international and interdisciplinary organization with 2,600 members from more than 74 countries. APECS provides hands-on leadership training and professional development for young scientists and educators interested in the earth’s Polar Regions. Baeseman runs the APECS international office in Norway, has taken three trips to Antarctica to study microorganisms living in extreme environments and worked at the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. A native of Central Wisconsin, she is also a member of the UW-Stevens Point Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Polzer, the UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He studies how people collaborate in diverse teams by focusing on the interplay among individual expertise and identity, interpersonal processes such as conflict, and team performance. He also studies the use of communication technologies to foster global collaboration. He has taught courses in the MBA, executive and doctoral programs at Harvard, and has conducted executive training sessions for organizations such as IBM, Novartis, Merrill Lynch, Citizens Band and Ernst & Young.
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