Three WLC Faculty Members Retire I
n the summer of 2019, Prof. Mary Heins, Dr. Robert Anderson, and Dr. Joyce Natzke retired from Wisconsin Lutheran College. HEINS, who retired as an assistant professor of communication, served at WLC for 41 years. When she began teaching at WLC, there was one communication course: COM 101. Today more than 25 communication courses are offered by the School of Professional Communication. Except for a semester spent teaching in Hong Kong, Heins taught COM 101 every semester since 1978, in addition to many other courses. She said, “I can’t claim this as my own quote, but I’ve been known to say, ‘You cannot not communicate!’” Heins is known for establishing the beloved monthly WLC tradition of Afternoon Tea. She also was the keynote speaker at the May 2019 commencement service, during which she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by President Johnson. Heins said of her students: “WLC grads have a good work ethic and are desirable employees. A person with a
18 | Winter 2020
Christian worldview approaches all of life with a servant attitude and a heart filled with gratitude.” ANDERSON, who was a professor of biology and assistant dean of faculty development, served at WLC for 25 years. He said of his WLC service, “Being a professor involves a life of Christian scholarship and service that includes mentoring students and creating learning opportunities for them.” After working in environmental consulting and semiconductor sales, Anderson said he felt called to get back into the study of aquatic ecology that he had enjoyed at Michigan State University while completing his Ph.D. “I wanted to share this amazing aspect of God’s creation with others in the classroom, lab, and field.” Anderson, who took students to the Caribbean as well as local waterways to conduct research, established the college’s marine biology major. He concluded: “Through working with me, I hope my students and colleagues learned that the ability to engage in lifelong learning is a gift from our Lord. We should enjoy this gift and pursue it with passion.”
NATZKE, who served as a professor of education and dean of the College of Adult and Graduate Studies, had 32 years of ministry at WLC. She first taught as an adjunct in 1979 before being called to full-time service in 1987. Natzke recalled that she had six weeks from the time her full-time call began to get the teacher education program and curriculum developed and sent to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction for review. She said she enjoyed the opportunities through the School of Education to work with literacy projects in Jamaica, Grenada, and Mexico, along with providing professional development for those countries’ educators. In her role as dean of the College of Adult and Graduate Studies, Natzke said, “It has been wonderful seeing the tears of joy as adults have earned bachelor’s degrees that seemed so far out of reach for them.” She concluded, “Overall, I have been blessed through the students who have learned alongside me during my years at WLC, whether it was in Milwaukee or around the world.”
