UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #766
BURGESS, ANN

BURGESS, Ann (1942- )
Director and Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Biology Core Curriculum
At UW: 1960-1964; 1972-2002

Interviewed: 	2006	
Interviewer:	Sandy Pfahler
Length: 	1 hour, 40 minutes

Early education; Undergraduate at UW-Madison; Research in McArdle Lab; Graduate study at Harvard; Postdoc in Geneva; Assistant scientist; Biology Core Curriculum (Biocore); Directorship of Biocore; Biology education; BioQUEST Consortium; Biocore Prairie Restoration Project; Developments in teaching biology;  National Institute for Science Education; Biology major; Involving girls in science in elementary school; Climate for women on campus; Academic staff; Chemistry education; Biology 2010; Honors and awards; Ombuds Office; Campus Natural Areas Committee; UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve; Retirement.

First Interview Session (May 17, 2006): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:00:26	[Begin Tape 1/Side 1] Ann Burgess grew up in Evansville, Wisconsin.  Her father was an engineer and encouraged her to work hard in school.  She talks about her high school education.

00:02:02	AB attended UW-Madison as an undergraduate.  She majored in chemistry.  Harvey Storm was an influential professor with whom she studied chemistry.

00:03:30	As a junior she became more interested in biology and found a summer job assisting a graduate student in McArdle Labs.  She began doing her own research on a senior thesis with Gerald Mueller.

00:06:23	She talks about her experience as a woman on campus, and particularly as a woman studying science.  

00:08:23	AB talks about her undergraduate experience at UW.  She enjoyed working in the lab more than class work.  She therefore decided to attend graduate school at Harvard in molecular biology and biochemistry.  Mueller had encouraged her to apply to Harvard.

00:10:02	She received a fellowship to study at Harvard.  She was the only woman in her entering class.  Her future husband was also in the program.

00:10:02	AB describes her graduate education.  This was an exciting time of discovery in molecular biology.

00:12:09	She discusses her thesis project.  She received her PhD in 1969.

00:14:44	She married Richard Burgess in 1967.  They wanted to go to Europe as postdocs and they both went to Geneva, Switzerland, where she studied animal cells.  Life in Geneva.

00:16:39	Travels in Europe.

00:17:00	Her husband received a job offer from UW-Madison and McArdle Labs.  AB worked in his lab for two years, first as a postdoc and then as an assistant scientist.  She talks about the experience of working with her husband, with whom until then she had been an equal.

00:18:35	She and her husband both offered labs as part of the Biology Core Curriculum (Biocore).  She spoke with Walter Plaut, who hired her to run the lab for Biocore.

00:21:13	She describes Biocore, an interdepartmental honors program begun in 1967 by Millard Susman and others.

00:25:43	AB was in charge of the cell biology labs.

00:27:27	She talks about the process of admitting students to Biocore and determining the curriculum.

00:29:35	During the fall she directed the evolution ecology and genetics lab and in the fall she directed the cell biology lab.  In 1980 she became associate chair of Biocore.

00:31:34	[End side 1, begin side 2] Ann Burgess discusses her involvement in campus issues in biology education.

00:32:10	After the unexpected death of Walter Plaut, AB was chosen to become the new chair of Biocore.  Her official title was eventually Director of Biocore.  She continued to run the two labs while serving as director.

00:34:48	She describes recruiting faculty to teach in Biocore.

00:41:53	Similar programs to Biocore had been established at other universities.

00:43:30	AB discusses biology education and her involvement in the BioQUEST Consortium.  Biocore emphasizes writing.

00:47:21	The Biocore Prairie Restoration Project began in 1997.  AB started this project as part of the evolution ecology lab for Biocore.

00:53:31	She talks about students in the Biocore program.

00:54:34	AB advocated a cooperative learning format for the fourth-semester Biocore course.  This type of teaching system made Biocore a desirable program for teaching assistants to enter.

01:00:36	She discusses changes in biology education. [End tape 1, side 2; begin tape 2] Ann Burgess continues to discuss developments in biology education during the course of her career.

01:06:07	She assesses the impact of these developments on science education in high schools.

01:07:23	The National Institute for Science Education was based in Madison for five years.  AB became involved in the College Level 1 program.

01:08:27	She served on committees on TA training, the biology major, and the advising service.

01:10:42	AB speaks about the need to involve girls in science at an early age.

01:14:28	She talks about the climate for women on campus.  Colleagues in Biocore have always treated her well.  She felt discriminated against as an academic staff member; this status is related to being a woman because many more women than men are academic staff.  She was unable to be a voting member of the implementation committee for the biology major because she was not a faculty member.

01:17:40	AB was also precluded from serving on or nominating people to the divisional committees.

01:19:27	Such discrimination against academic staff is an injustice because she and other academic staff are full-time teachers of undergraduates who are immersed in a whole range of education issues.

01:20:58	AB discusses her work beyond campus on the national level: she served on the editorial board of the BioQUEST Consortium, worked with the National Institute for Science Education, and served on the leadership team for a New Traditions grant on improving chemistry education.

01:24:53	Biology 2010.

01:26:03	AB describes teaching awards she has received.  She received a leadership award from the Alumni Association.  Her colleagues nominated her to be a Distinguished Lecturer.  When she retired the College of Letters & Science gave her the Career Service Award.

01:28:05	After retirement she continued to be involved on campus.  She served as an ombudsperson and describes her work at the Ombuds Office.

01:33:34	She serves on the Campus Natural Areas Committee and works with the UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve.

01:34:34	[End side 1; begin side 2] Ann Burgess continues to talk about her work on the UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve.  Since retirement she also works with the Biocore Prairie Project.

01:35:12	She talks about her family.  AB describes how she tried to balance work and family during her career.

01:39:07	She loves the freedom she has gained since retiring.

01:40:06	End of First Interview Session

End of Interview #766