Roger & Alice Mangan Excellence in Teaching Award
Annually UIU acknowledges the outstanding efforts of faculty members who go above and beyond in teaching. Named after Roger and Alice Mangan, The Roger & Alice Mangan Excellence in Teaching Award is presented to as many as three faculty members (one adjunct faculty; one tenure-track faculty, instructor, or lecturer, and one tenured faculty).
UIU Alumni, Roger and Alice Mangan established the fund to recognize the outstanding teaching of UIU faculty members. A native of Chicago, IL, Roger Mangan graduated from UIU in 1962, with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. He was a wrestler and a 2014 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, and currently serves on the UIU Board of Trustees. Alice (DeLong) originally from Maynard, IA, graduated from UIU in 1961, with a Physical Education degree in education; she helped organize UIU’s first drill team.
2023-2024 Roger and Alice Mangan Excellence in Teaching Award Honorees
Adjunct/Online/Center Faculty - Dain Hendrickson, Adjunct Instructor
Hendrickson holds a master’s degree with an emphasis in Special Education from the University of Phoenix. He has served at Upper Iowa University since 2023. Before that, he worked as a High School Equivalency Instructor at Eastern Iowa Community College.
Hendrickson is currently enrolled in a postgraduate program in Applied Behavioral Analysis through the University of Iowa. He earned his Special Education Consultant license from Morningside University. He also obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Hendrickson is the Instructional Coach for Behavior for the Bettendorf Community School District in Bettendorf, Iowa. Prior to his current position, he was an Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities teacher for both the Bettendorf and Davenport Community School Districts.
Tenure-Track/Lecturer - Dr. NiCole Dennler, Assistant Professor of Communication
Dr. NiCole Dennler has been with the university since 2009. Since 2009, she has been an online advisor, adjunct professor, and lecturer. She is currently on the tenure track in Communication. She completed her dissertation in May of 2023. Her dissertation was on the use of tourism by the Maijuna community in the Amazon Rainforest, Peru. Her area of expertise focuses on intercultural and interpersonal communication.
During her tenure with UIU, she implemented the campus internet radio station and created the mobile radio unit, allowing students to broadcast from multiple campus locations. She also created the media lab, allowing multiple majors and campus departments to access the large space for photography and production needs. She is actively involved in the study abroad program, taking students to Peru, Greece, and Germany.
Dr. Dennler has appreciated the opportunity UIU has given her to be mentored by amazing people and giving her the ability to mentor many fascinating students both on and off campus. She believes that UIU is a great place to work and grow because of our ability to know each other’s stories and truths. “At UIU we become the people we are always meant to be.”
NiCole expressed that her greatest joy from working is seeing her students excel in the classroom and after they have left Upper Iowa University.
Tenured Faculty - Paul Skrade, Associate Professor of Biology
Skrade joined the faculty at UIU in 2015 after two years at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. At Knox he served as the Interim Director of Sustainability and taught in the Biology Department as a Visiting Assistant Professor & Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow. Prior to Knox, Skrade earned his MS in Animal Ecology and Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
