Baltensperger to Chair MTU Education Department
HOUGHTON--Brad Baltensperger
has been appointed as chair of the Department of Education at Michigan
Technological University, Dean of Sciences and Arts Max Seel has announced. Baltensperger, a professor
and former chair of Michigan Tech's Department of Social Sciences, had
served as interim chair of the Department of Education since August. "Brad
is highly respected by the faculty in the education department, by the
faculty associated with teacher education at Tech, by the local school
districts and by the education community at large," Seel said. "He
has extensive administrative experience as former department chair, and
he has an excellent understanding of Michigan's statewide education organizations." Baltensperger has been a faculty
member at Michigan Tech since 1974, teaching a wide range of courses in
geography and related fields over the past 28 years. He has authored publications
on the geography of the Great Plains, including a book and articles in
leading geography journals. He has been principal investigator on several
grants and received a 1990-91 Fulbright scholarship, which allowed him
to spend a year as guest professor at Philipps University in Marburg,
Germany. From 1996 to 2001, Baltensperger served as director of the environmental
policy graduate program. "In addition to his extensive
academic and administrative experience at Michigan Tech, Brad always has
shown a keen interest in issues related to secondary education,"
Seel said. Baltensperger has been a member of the Houghton-Portage Township
school board since 1988, serving as president from 1997 to 2000. In 1999,
he not only became the first president of the Copper Country Association
of School Boards, but he served also, until 2000, as president of the
Michigan Association of School Boards. As president, he was the chair
of the Accountability Task Force, a diverse coalition of statewide education
organizations, which advocates school accountability and a meaningful
school accreditation system. As department chair, Baltensperger
will provide leadership for the secondary teacher certifications in biology,
chemistry, computer science, earth science, English, mathematics, physical
science, physics and social studies; and the new master's program in applied
science education. 4/5/02--MTN026
