Continuing with our celebration of this year’s CALS Awards recipients, this week we are recognizing Sean Schoville, winner of the Robert R. Spitzer Teaching Excellence Award.

Robert Spitzer was a three-time graduate of CALS who went on to become a leader in agribusiness and the president of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He created the award to honor the teachers who made a lasting impression on him.

This year’s recipient is Sean Schoville, professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Entomology. Schoville has made a remarkable impact on the department through his leadership and teaching of Entomology 201: Insects and Human Culture, a high-enrollment, high-impact course that draws more than 250 students each semester.

His innovative teaching has inspired a broad range of students, contributing to growth in the undergraduate major, and earning him the University Housing’s Honored Instructor Award in 2020. A central goal Schoville has for his courses is to employ a learner-centered teaching philosophy that broadens participation and increases student understanding, engagement, and retention of class topics.

Schoville is active in programs that aim to strengthen diversity in STEM fields at the undergraduate level such as McNair, PEOPLE and Undergraduate Research Scholars (URS), where he earned the 2023-2024 URS Exceptional Mentor Award. He has mentored undergraduate students who have received prestigious awards and five high school students through the state-wide Youth Apprenticeship Program.

As the director of graduate studies, Schoville’s leadership was instrumental in developing the new ecology and evolutionary biology PhD program. This new graduate program will bring national and international recognition for UW–Madison’s existing faculty expertise and foster interdisciplinary research and educational excellence.

Through his strong collaboration and dedication, Schoville exemplifies excellence in teaching that integrates his research and service as well as his graduate and undergraduate mentorship.