UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Paul B. and Robert Dykstra Faculty Excellence Award

Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies

Supporting faculty excellence, the Paul B. and Robert Dykstra Faculty Excellence Award endowment typically supports one faculty award per academic year. The award is designed to support faculty research, creative and scholarly activity. It is intended to be awarded to a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who is either currently involved in a project or has proposed a research, creative or scholarly project. 

Robert Dykstra was named the 1998 University of Wisconsin-River Falls Distinguished Alumnus. A 1957 elementary education and guidance graduate, Robert earned both masters and doctorate degrees in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota. Robert’s prolific work, spanning three decades from the mid-60’s to the early 90’s includes research that continues to be recognized as among the most important ever conducted in his field. In 1967, Robert and colleague Guy Bond published the groundbreaking study, “The Cooperative Research Program in First Grade Reading Instruction,” commonly known as “The First Grade Studies.” This national investigation remains the largest and most thorough study ever completed of beginning reading. 

Robert was elected to the International Reading Association Hall of Fame in 1996 and was granted the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013. Along with assuming various leadership positions at the local, national, and international levels, Robert continues to remember his ties to UW-River Falls, where he served many years on its Foundation Board. 

Paul B. Dykstra is an independent board member and recent past Chairman, President and CEO of Viad, a $1.1B NYSE company with domestic and international operations in Marketing and Event Services, Travel and Recreation Services and formerly Payment Services.
  
Paul began his career with Viad (then known as the Greyhound Corporation) in 1984 when he joined Travelers Express Company, Inc., a subsidiary in the payment processing and money transfer business. In 2000, Paul was named president and chief executive officer of GES, another Viad subsidiary. Over the course of the next six years, he transformed the company by streamlining operations, focusing resources on developing new technology for the exhibition and events industry, and instilling a values-based winning culture. In 2006, Paul was appointed president and chief executive officer and elected to Viad’s board of directors. He was appointed chairman of the board in 2008. Paul oversaw the consolidation of businesses and growth through acquisition and international expansion. 

Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.  He has served on the UWRF Foundation Board since 2017 and previously from 1998-2003. 

Read the donor's story: Robert and Paul Dykstra


 

Application Process  


A Brief Overview of How to Proceed:
If you have any issues, please contact
Academic Affairs

  • Complete an application (click below) that includes a personal narrative.
  • An up-to-date CV uploaded into the system.
  • One support narrative from a colleague (UWRF preferred), who can address how you contributed significantly to research, creative, or scholarly activity at UWRF. You will identify this person in your application, and once the application is submitted, this person will receive an email asking to provide the narrative.
  • Ensure that the application is complete.  You will receive a final email indicating that it has been sent to the committee.  This must be completed by the due date.
  • Note: Department Chair needs to approve request, so ensure to submit within a reasonable time so your chair has time to approve application before the deadline.

Due Date

For 2024-25: April 15, 2024

Application

Faculty and Academic Staff Development Grant Opportunities and Programs

Dykstra Faculty Excellence and Wurtz Teaching Excellence Awards Committee Members

Award

  • The financial award is typically in $1,000 to $2,000 range depending on the number of applications submitted. 
  • One or two tenured or tenure-track faculty member(s) will be awarded.
  • The award will be announced at the fall opening meeting each academic year.
  • The award amount will be deposited in a university account for submission of expenses.

Past Recipients

2023-2024

Glenn Spiczak (Physics)
Michelle DeBoer (Animal and Food Science)
Samuel Alvarado (Chemistry and Biotechnology)

2022-23

Yoana Newman (Plant and Earth Science)
Luis Peña-Lévano (Agricultural Economics)
Alexandru Tupan (Mathematics)
Erik Withers (Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology)

2021-22

Casie Bass (Animal & Food Science)
Cheng-Chen Huang (Biology)
David Zlesak (Plant and Earth Science)

2020-21

Ioana Ghenciu (Mathematics)
Lissa Schneider-Rebozo (English)

2019-20

Matthew Vonk (Physics)

2018-19

Jamie Schneider (Chemistry and Biotechnology)

2017-18

Paige Miller (Sociology and Criminology)

2016-17

Cyndi Kernahan (Psychology)

2015-16

Mark Bergland (Biology)

2014-15

Sylvia Kehoe (Animal and Food Science)

2013-14

Travis Tubre (Psychology)

2012-13

Brain Smith (Plant and Earth Science)

2011-12

David Rusterholz (Chemistry)

Contact Us

Academic Affairs
academicaffairs@uwrf.edu