Filmmaker named to creative-arts professorship

Nietzchka Keene has been named to the Emily Mead Baldwin Bell-Bascom Professorship in the Creative Arts, effective July 1. The appointment was approved Feb. 6 by the UW System Board of Regents.

Keene, an associate professor of communication arts, is one of the most prolific and accomplished filmmakers working in academe. Her two feature films — “The Juniper Tree” and “The Heroine of Hell” — have received wide acclaim, been selected for screening at prestigious film festivals and won substantial outside support. Keene is currently working on a feature film titled “Barefoot to Jerusalem.”

Keene is also regarded as a dedicated teacher, and in addition to her teaching duties she devotes time to independent study projects to give students specialized training.

The Emily Mead Baldwin Bell-Bascom Professorship in the Creative Arts was established in 1989 through a bequest to the UW Foundation from Emily McKay and Ruth Barker. The professorship is open to tenured UW- Madison faculty in the art, communication arts, dance, design, music and theater programs who have become distinguished professors, performers or creators in the arts. The two-year, non-renewable professorship includes a annual stipend of $8,000.