Advisers honored for service to UW-Madison students

A pair of advisers to undergraduate students have won advising awards from the UW–Madison College of Letters and Science, the university’s largest academic unit.

Geoffrey Thompson, assistant L&S dean and John Westbury, associate professor of communicative disorders, receive $3,500 each in honor of their contributions to advising, their efforts to develop students’ potential, willingness to work beyond L&S to serve students and their contributions beyond the call of duty.

In a dozen years in L&S Student Academic Affairs, Thompson has distinguished himself as a special advocate for students on the academic borders, serving since 1994 as chair of L&S Review Board, which hears students’ requests for exceptions to college policy. In addition, he also has worked closely with the UW–Madison registrar’s office, athletics division and Dean of Students office to meet the needs of students and potential students, their families and advocates while upholding the standards and integrity of the College of Letters and Science.

Among other responsibilities, Thompson administers aspects of the L&S Academic Advancement Program, which allows selected minority and underprepared students to attend the university. In 1985-88, he directed minority affairs for the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy. He has done graduate work at UW–Madison in English, and counseling and guidance. He also holds a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from Notre Dame University.

Westbury, who joined the communicative disorders faculty in 1993, has achieved renown among and the affection of his advisees by encouraging them to set high standards for themselves and to think beyond the obvious. An undergraduate adviser for his department since 1996, Westbury has proved himself a definitive source for information about course content, course sequencing and degree requirements.

ComDis majors may pursue a degree through either L&S or the School of Education, and Westbury is equally well-versed in the requirements of both units. As chair of the department’s undergraduate committee and head of its undergraduate advising program, he works with 50-75 students each semester.

His advising duties, however, are not his only ones. He also directs the X-ray Microbeam Laboratory, a one-of-a-kind speech research facility funded by the National Institutes of Health at UW–Madison’s Waisman Center. In addition, he supervises the work of several graduate students and teaches courses each semester