Karen G. Havholm—former assistant vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs, and former director of the Center of Excellence for Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Collaboration at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire—has been elected to a second term as treasurer of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). A member of CUR’s Undergraduate Research Programs Division who has served as a CUR Councilor and as a general representative to the Executive Board, Havholm will begin a three-year term on the board in summer 2021.
Havholm earned her bachelor’s degree in geology with honors from the College of Wooster. After K–12 teaching in Tehran, Iran, and Austin, Texas, she earned master’s and doctoral degrees in geology at UT Austin. After teaching at Colorado College and University of Washington, she moved to UW–Eau Claire, where she combined her geology and education backgrounds. As a faculty member in the Geology Department, she mentored 27 research students. From 2006 to her retirement in 2020, she led the campus research office, focusing on advancing undergraduate research at the university as well as publishing and presenting on undergraduate research issues at the state and national levels. In 2016, UW–Eau Claire was a recipient of CUR’s Campus-Wide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments. Havholm has served as president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, as a Councilor for the CUR Geosciences Division and Undergraduate Research Programs Division, as a member of the CUR Finance Committee, and as a current member of the CUR Executive Board.
Said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer, “Dr. Havholm’s substantial experience with program management, grant-supported research programs, and fiscal policies and procedures is of considerable value as CUR continues to implement policies to ensure fiscal health for the organization. Her continued service is an asset to CUR.”
Said Havholm, “I am honored and excited to be able to continue to work with the hard-working CUR staff and dedicated CUR volunteers as we navigate this time of upheaval and transition.”
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Council on Undergraduate Research: The Council on Undergraduate Research supports faculty development for high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. More than 700 institutions and nearly 13,000 individuals belong to CUR. CUR believes that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.
