Murphy Award: Rod Williams

Rod Williams, associate head of Purdue Extension, associate professor and Extension wildlife specialist. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons) Download Photo

Five teachers have received the 2016 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. This week, Purdue Today will feature Q&A's on each of the recipients. This Q&A focuses on Rod Williams, associate head of Purdue Extension, associate professor and Extension wildlife specialist.

Years at Purdue: 8.

Teaching interests: I have taught eight different classes within the past eight years, but two things immediately come to mind. First, I enjoy teaching students about amphibian and reptile ecology, conservation and management. As a herpetologist, I enjoy teaching students about things that are of great interest to me. This group of vertebrates is probably the least known to many, so it’s very rewarding to expand their knowledge base and get them excited about that important part of forestry and natural resources. The second interest with regard to teaching is to use extension as a platform for student learning. I am an extension wildlife specialist that, as I just mentioned, specializes in herpetology. I am very proud that I’ve been able to integrate Extension into so many of my classes. Extension brings real-world issues into the classroom, and it allows students to develop projects and deliverables that go out into the community and help solve problems and improve people's lives. Also, students learn how to communicate when they engage in extension programs.

Goals as a professor: To make a difference, encourage students to stretch themselves and to give them the tools that will allow them to achieve their professional goals. That is why I chose academia over the many other natural resource professions.

How important it is to give students classes like FNR 498 to prepare them for the job market: I developed the FNR 498 (the Nature of Service Learning) course to help students prepare for the job market. Many of our students are interested in jobs that require taking the ecological knowledge base they obtain from their core classes and translating that information into something a lay audience can appreciate, relate to and understand. This also requires our students to be able to communicate effectively. I’ve elected to use extension as a tool to accomplish both of those goals. Students are trained on the history of extension and how to develop logic models to build impactful Extension programs, and they are required to develop original extension products and then asked to deliver those programs to target audiences. Those skills, and in many cases the products they produce in the class, are precisely what employers are seeking.

On what inspires him: I can’t help but be inspired by my students. Their energy, desire to learn and to make a difference is infectious. They keep me young and excited to do what I do. They make what I do a career and not a job.

On what winning a Murphy Award means: That fact that I’ve won the Murphy Award still hasn’t completely hit me. Purdue is an amazing institution filled with many outstanding educators. To be chosen among those wonderful instructors is a real honor. As an Extension specialist, I’ve worked hard to incorporate the land-grant mission into classes and extracurricular activities as a way to enhance student learning. The fact that Purdue and the selection committee not only acknowledges that, but rewards faculty for doing it, makes me proud to be a Boilermaker.