Burlington Standard

University Of Vermont And State Agricultural College issued the following announcement.

The positive impact that a dedicated educator can have on students extends far beyond the classroom. For Animal and Veterinary Sciences Lecturer and CREAM Advisor Stephen Wadsworth, DVM, his students use adjectives such as honest, humble, compassionate and role model to describe him as a person. As a lecturer, they say he treats them with respect, and uses every opportunity in the classroom—or dairy barn—as a valuable teaching moment.

Wadsworth's devotion to dairy science education and his students has earned him the 2022 Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award, which is given by the UVM Office of the Provost in support of academic excellence in teaching and learning.

"It is clear just how much he wants to be here and that very trait creates an environment comfortable and inviting, so all the CREAM students can’t help but want to be at the barn taking in all that they can every minute of the day," stated Faerin Dick, a member of the Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management (CREAM) program, a student-run dairy herd at UVM's Miller Research and Educational Center.

A CREAM program student leading a Holstein dairy cow at the UVM Miller Farm.

Wadsworth has been a dairy veterinary practitioner for close to four decades in Franklin County, Vermont. He graduated from the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine and is the son of a UVM Extension veterinarian. He is also a founding partner of Northwest Veterinary Associated in St. Albans, Vermont, with interests including reproduction management, neonatal management, facility design, stockmanship and animal welfare.

As a lecturer, Wadsworth feels he has a moral obligation to the animals that he works with, and to his students. CREAM student Hannah Rich stated, "I truly enjoyed every second of interaction with Dr. Wadsworth and in his class and feel as though I've become a better person by learning from him. He taught life experience as much as livestock medicine, which is very rare to come by in the veterinary field. I truly am grateful for the time I spent with him and know that my desire to be a vet and make a difference was only reaffirmed through his teachings."

Comments from Dr. Robert Pepperman Taylor and Dr. Wolfgang Dostmann, members of the Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award review committee, were just as effusive as his students. The committee members commented on Wadsworth's competence, clarity, and warmth in his classroom. “What stood out to me when observing Stephen Wadsworth teach was the remarkable combination of expertise and gentle kindness. He is as effective in the classroom as he is in the bard tending to the cows and demonstrating veterinary techniques directly for (and with) the students. He has a wonderful rapport with the students, and his class session was full of seriousness as well as good humor and the simple pleasures of working together as a group. I should note that I witnessed a number of exceptional teachers this semester, all of whom could legitimately win this award. It is within this quite exceptional cohort that Stephen Wadsworth’s skill, commitment, kindness, and effectiveness as a teacher stands out.”

Several students acknowledged that even though Wadsworth's schedule was "wildly busy", he found time to talk with all of them as individuals and grew to know them as students and as people. Busy is a way to describe how Wadsworth spends his time at UVM and outside of UVM as well. Besides being a founding partner of a veterinary practice, he served on the board of directors of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and was awarded the Quality Veterinarian of the Year. Wadsworth is also active in the Enosburgh, Vermont community, serving on the boards of the food shelf, recreation committee, and Enosburgh Initiative.

The Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Awards recognize faculty for excellent undergraduate instruction. They memorialize Robert H. and Ruth M. Kroepsch and her parents, Walter C. and Mary L. Maurice. Robert H. Kroepsch served as Registrar and Dean of Administration at UVM from 1946-1956. Ruth graduated from UVM in 1938 and her father, Walter Maurice, graduated from UVM in 1909. All four were teachers. The Kroepsch-Maurice Awards are administered under the authority of the Office of the Provost in support of academic excellence in teaching and learning. Each year one faculty member in each of the four rank categories (Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Clinical Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor) receives this honor.

Original source can be found here.