Wisconsin Ag Connection - UWRF Ag Prof Honored with National Teaching Award

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UWRF Ag Prof Honored with National Teaching Award
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 08/23/2018

An associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls has received the 2018 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Distinguished Teaching: Less than Ten Years' Experience Award. Sierra Howry is the first recipient of this award in the program's 22-year history to come from a small, regional, undergraduate teaching university. The honor was presented during the AAEA's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.

In their letter of nomination, her department colleagues Brenda Boetel and David Trechter noted how Howry consistently ranks at or near the top on her student evaluations but went on to say that her teaching is not confined to the classroom.

"If Dr. Howry is in her office, the door is invariably open and there is a steady stream of students stopping by to talk with her," they wrote. "Many are there, not because they are in one of her classes, but to seek her advice about job or internship offers, get her opinion on how to handle some situation in a student club, or just to chat. Students respect her opinion and enjoy her company."

A faculty member since 2013, Howry also serves as an adviser for the UWRF's College Farm Bureau chapter on campus and for Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority.

Last December, she accepted another role on campus as the part-time director of the McNair Scholars Program, which encourages first generation, low income and under-represented students to continue their education and earn a doctoral degree.

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