Posted 8 a.m. Thursday, June 5, 2025
Ryan McKelley receives 2025 Eagle Teaching Excellence Award
UW-La Crosse is home to many outstanding instructors who make a difference in students’ lives inside and outside the classroom.
This year, UWL’s Provost Office received hundreds of nominations from students hoping to recognize their favorite faculty. From these nominations, a university committee selected six faculty to receive 2025 Eagle Teaching Excellence Awards.
They are:
- Brad Dobbs, Management
- Sona Kazemi, Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies
- Heather Linville, Educational Studies
- Ryan McKelley, Psychology
- James Peirce, Mathematics & Statistics
- Zachariah Tritz, Microbiology
This is the fourth of six stories highlighting the winners.
Ryan McKelley, Psychology
Started at UWL: 2008
Courses: Psychology Department, mostly courses in clinical/counseling psychology (e.g., abnormal psychology, psychopharmacology, behavior modification, men and masculinities, group counseling, etc.)
Background: I was a management consultant in the tech industry, then went to grad school to become a licensed psychologist.
Favorite part of teaching: There is a Benjamin Disraeli quote that says it better than I can: “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to them their own.” I love hearing how students connect what they are learning to their lives, and to play a small part in such an exciting and important life transition.