faculty awards

Professor of the Year

According to Dr. Kristina Ropella teaching is the most energizing and perfect of occupations, save, perhaps, that of jazz dancer. She thinks that maybe given a different set of talents — lightness on her feet certainly among them — she may have been drawn to that performance art. But the talents she is blessed with most abundantly drew her to academia, to teaching, and happily she chooses to excel in that art at Marquette.

In November Ropella was named Wisconsin Professor of the Year. It is an enormous honor reserved for the nation’s best faculty as judged by his or her peers, students and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This is the second consecutive year a Marquette faculty member has won the award. Last year Dr. Donald Neumann, professor of physical therapy, earned this prize.

Ropella, who is chair of biomedical engineering, the discipline focused on building health care devices and technologies, is thrilled the award recognizes undergraduate teaching. “Students come to college just barely out of childhood, usually continuing a journey that was laid out by their parents long ago,” Ropella says. “In four or five years of college, they undergo tremendous growth and self-discovery. I enjoy watching students recognize their potential intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. I love playing a role in that discovery process. Teaching is the best part of my job. That’s why I went on for my Ph.D. That’s what I wanted to do.”

Ropella joined Marquette’s faculty in 1990 and early on began to focus on making industry a partner in undergraduate education. The College of Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, she says, are both leaders in building strong relationships with local industry. “I invited guest speakers, conducted field trips, and invited industry sponsors for senior design projects to allow students to learn directly from practicing engineers,” she says. “Industry partners began to recognize the difference they made in our students’ preparation and, today, 23 companies partner with the Department of Biomedical Engineering.”

Ropella earned a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering at Marquette in 1985 and master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University in 1987 and 1989, respectively. In addition to her faculty position, she directs the Marquette and Medical College of Wisconsin joint Ph.D. program in functional imaging. Her research focuses are signal processing, bio computing, electrophysiology and functional imaging. — JMM