The UW–Madison School of Education is bringing another talented and diverse cohort of new faculty members to campus for the start of the upcoming fall semester.

To welcome these newest members of our community — and to reconnect with colleagues and celebrate the start of the upcoming 2023-24 academic year — the School is hosting its annual Welcome Back Bash event for faculty and staff on Thursday, Aug. 31. The event will be held outside on the North Plaza of the Education Building from 12 to 2 p.m. (if it rains, we’ll move things inside to the Morgridge Commons). The event will include lunch — complete with Babcock ice cream.

Those attending will hear brief remarks from Dean Diana Hess, with department chairs introducing their newest faculty members. This fall, there are nine new faculty hires joining us for the start of the fall semester. Three of these new faculty members will spend the 2023-24 academic year as Anna Julia Cooper Postdoctoral Fellows, which provides space to focus on research development and writing.

Seven of our departments are welcoming at least one new faculty member.

Tim Portlock, professor, Art Department and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

Portlock comes to us from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he was the chair of the undergraduate art program. “Nickels from Heaven,” one of his recent solo exhibitions, was displayed at Philadelphia’s Locks Gallery in 2021. Portlock uses 3D animation, drone footage, and more to align art with environmental research. He won a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2011. Portlock will be working jointly with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the School of Education’s Art Department.