A Boost for UW-Whitewater Biology
Released: August 19, 2004
Biological sciences students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will soon be eligible for one of the university’s most lucrative scholarship programs, thanks to a major estate gift made official this month.
The gift was made to the Joseph and Madeline Chopp Scholarship, established as a memorial to Joseph Chopp, a UW-Whitewater biology professor from 1937 to 1974. The gift is from the estate of Rockton, Ill. native Franklyn Carpenter, a longtime friend of the Chopp family who passed away April 25, 2004. Carpenter was a farmer who owned a large crop farm in Rockton and moved to Whitewater after retirement.
“We are extremely grateful that Mr. Carpenter chose to honor Joe and Madeline in such a meaningful way,” said Bruce Eshelman, chair of the biological sciences department. “An endowed scholarship of this size will be a tremendous asset to our students and to the overall quality of the department.”
Since the Chopp Scholarship grows dramatically with the new gift, the scholarship criteria will be revised to maximize benefits to students. It will also remain true to the Chopps’ original intent of honoring top-caliber students in the biological sciences. The scholarship currently honors juniors and seniors, Eshelman said, but the new program could also serve as a recruiting tool for some of the state’s most talented high school seniors.
Joseph Chopp, who also served as department chair from 1962-1972, guided the department through the university’s transition from a teachers college in the 1950s to a regional comprehensive university. Former colleagues described him as a colorful and creative teacher who made a strong impact on students.
“Joe was one of the most unforgettable people I’ve known,” said Dan Sable, an emeritus biology professor who worked with Chopp. “He was an avid environmentalist and did a lot to promote ecology on campus.”
He was known for incorporating magic tricks and other entertaining props into his freshman biology courses, Sable said. Chopp was also an avid painter and built instructional models, such as plant and animal cells, for a Wisconsin company that were used in biology classrooms around the nation.
One year, as a class project, he had students collect, cultivate and later plant Marigold flowers across the campus grounds. He also posted signs marking different environmentally unique features around campus. UW-Whitewater honored that legacy by naming the Chopp Arboretum, in front of Hyer Hall, after the professor.
Joseph Chopp died in 1974 and Madeline in 2001. They have two daughters, JoAnn Truss and Holle Kelley, both of whom are graduates of UW-Whitewater and retired public school educators in Wisconsin.
Kelley noted that her father was instrumental in the early 1960s development of Upham Hall, UW-Whitewater’s current science building. Chopp, who was one of only two biology teachers when he began in 1937, helped build a full-fledged staff of eight faculty.
Biological sciences has been a department on the move in the last decade. The department has about 325 majors, up from 110 majors a decade ago, Eshelman said. It has created several new programs over that time, including a new major in marine biology/freshwater ecology; a biotechnology emphasis and two honors programs.
The program places a strong emphasis on undergraduate research and regularly sends as many as two dozen students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. It also has about 100 students enrolled in pre-professional programs in medicine, pharmacy and veterinary medicine.
Two undergraduates from the department — Leah Jamieson and Jennifer Chou — were co-authors of a paper on species formation that appeared in the journal Nature, one of the most prestigious science journals in the world.
The Chopp Scholarship becomes the second largest scholarship offered by the UW-Whitewater Foundation and the largest devoted to a single department, said Foundation Executive Director Jon Enslin. The family has asked that the exact amount of the gift remain private. The first gifts will be made for the 2005-06 academic year.
- Brian Mattmiller ,npa@uww.edu
