Dr. Dennis Riley: Best professor
The Pointer
kleb524@uwsp.edu
“Spring of 1965.” After 44 years, three universities and countless baseball anecdotes, Dr. Dennis Riley remembers the precise moment when he knew that being a political science professor was his life’s passion. It was on a Thursday during Riley’s senior year when his mentor Dr. Ed Stillings had him go to the front of the class.
“That spring, he [Stillings] had to go to a conference. He said to me, ‘my freshmen can’t take the two days off so you’re going to tell them about the Congress,’” said Riley. “It was just like it is now, alternatingly terrifying and really exciting. And I loved it from that moment. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. That’s how it all started.”
Passion and a desire to educate others are just a few reasons why Riley has been named the best professor on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus, beating out 592 other competitors.
Riley has been on the UW-SP campus for 31 years, but his tenure here almost never was. After teaching at Gonzaga University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Riley thought about stopping teaching after nine years.
“I was actually thinking of getting out of the business all together, but I thought I would try one more place and see if I find what I am looking for. And in some very important respects, I have. I really have,” said Riley.
Had Riley chosen not to give UW-SP a chance, thousands of students would have missed out, explained mayor and UW-SP alumni, Andrew Halverson.
“The impact that Dennis Riley has had in terms of his personality, in terms of his knowledge and perhaps more importantly, the way in which he engages his students to think is a remarkable talent that I really have not experienced in many professors,” said Halverson. “[He] has affected my life. I am a better student, better person [and] better human being because of the teachings of Dennis Riley. I am thrilled and very proud of him.”
Riley’s ability to engage his students in the learning process goes beyond the textbook. Political science professor and colleague Jennifer Collins explained that Riley has the ability to make politics accessible to every student.
“He really has a way of connecting and making [students] feel included in his dialogue and making them realize how interesting and significant politics is to their own lives,” said Collins. “He tries to translate politics for people and make relevant the issues at play to students.”
Riley incorporates his own personality into his teaching, allowing students to feel at ease about politics, which may not always be an easy topic to discuss.
“I think students relate to the informal style, to the fact that I don’t appear to take it inordinately seriously, but I also don’t think of it as a joke,” said Riley. “I take the material more seriously than I take myself, which I think is a good thing.”
Riley makes his classes worthwhile by taking the advice he was given by retired UW-SP professor Woody Bishop.
“Basically if you know your material, and you know yourself and you know the kids and you like all three of them, just go in there and be yourself,” said Riley. “One thing that our students do is they spot a phony and they just don’t like it. It is hard to take. Just be who you are.”
Students see Riley as himself each day with the four items most associated with him: beer, baseball, jazz and weird neckties. Each day brings a new tie, whether it be his favorite yellow “Grandpa” tie made by his “pride-and-joy,” granddaughter Sophie, the second-favorite Declaration of Independence tie or one of the many ties that students have given him over the years. Once a week, students learn of which famous baseball player or jazz musician has a birthday, while every other week, students get a quick update on how his boys from Amherst are doing; his boys being the owners of Central Waters.
Riley has not let the title of best professor go to his head. He remains humble about the whole process of the university and, like that first time he stood in front a group of freshmen, still gets nervous. But, he would not want to be doing anything else, except for maybe being the radio play-by-play announcer for a major league baseball team.
