Faculty
"I encourage students to forge ahead because the employment opportunities are vast and growing. The skills and knowledge gained in this degree are enormously applicable to a variety of settings: corporate, community agencies, insurance, medical."
- —Annie Wetter, Associate Dean, Chair of Health Promotion and Human Development, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Betsy Barrett
Betsy Barrett grew up in Ohio, went to the College of Wooster (BA), Miami University in Ohio (MS), and the University of Minnesota (PhD). She has been teaching in the health and wellness field for 21 years. She taught at UW-River Falls for 14 years, at Elmhurst College for four years, and online for five years with UW-River Falls. Presently she is an adjunct instructor at UW-Stevens Point. She is a consultant for the National Wellness Institute and enjoys her role as a personal trainer for a limited number of clients. When not teaching, she is hanging out with her sons, Mack and Tate, and yellow Lab, Croix. She also loves running, triathlons, reading, and being outdoors.
Arthur Bogdanove
Arthur Bogdanove is an online instructor in the University of Wisconsin System, and teaches face-to-face courses in nutrition and science. He began his studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a chemistry major, then joined the army, where he studied in a medical laboratory. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained a PhD in health education, with minors in nutrition and safety. He has worked in public health, a hospital, and at a number of universities, including the University of Illinois, University of Florida, James Madison University, and Olivet Nazarene College. Bogdanove is currently doing degree work in medical technology.
Myron Falken
Myron Falken received an MS in microbiology from South Dakota State University. He received an MPH and a PhD in environmental health with an emphasis on epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. He worked as an epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health for 20 years and developed the blood lead surveillance system and the birth defects surveillance system. Falken is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. He has four years of public health experience as a public health director and community health administrator directing and planning activities at the community level.
Dan Odenbach
Dan Odenbach is a corporate educator in the private sector and spends his days training and leading professionals in the business world. He received an MS in secondary education at the UW-La Crosse and continued on to receive an MA in educational administration and leadership at Marion College in Wisconsin. Dan Odenbach brings 13 years of formal education experience to his teaching, from the public school classroom, school administration, and college professor levels. His research and public speaking interests include business leadership and organization efficiency and profitability.
Ray Reinertson
Ray Reinertsen is a senior lecturer at UW-Superior teaching Wellness to his 100+ student classes on campus and via distance learning. He also teaches a variety of courses on campus and through distance learning, including Stress Management, Track Coaching, and PE activity courses. He has experience teaching courses in physical education and health education to kindergartners through post-college students and was the varsity cross-country and track coach for UW-Superior for a decade. Ray taught and coached for more than a decade in the New York City inner-city High School for the Humanities. He and his wife Debbie, a retired FBI agent, have two boys attending college, and a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter living in Boston, and a yellow Lab, Loki.
William F. Simpson
William Simpson presently is an associate professor at UW-Superior and directs the Exercise Physiology Laboratory. His experiences include YMCA work, cardiac rehabilitation, and 20 years in higher education, including as health promotion and wellness faculty. He has presented nationally and internationally, including at the National Wellness Conference, American College of Sports Medicine, and International Conference on Physical Activity. Outside of the classroom and laboratory he enjoys running, cooking, and hanging out with his daughters.
Emily Whitney
Emily Whitney received an MS in community health education at Utah State University and a PhD in health education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She is currently an assistant professor at UW-La Crosse teaching health education and health promotion courses such as Drugs in American Society, Human Disease, Stress Management, and Health Aspects of Aging. Her research interests include social support, diabetes/obesity, adolescent health programs, community capacity, stress/coping, college health, and health aspects of aging. Additionally, she is involved in grant writing, advising, mentoring undergraduate research projects, and serving on graduate thesis committees.
Theresa Yakovlev
Theresa is a proud 2009 UW-Stevens Point graduate with an MA in Communication. She is employed as patient experience educator with the Division of Education at Marshfield Clinic. In this role she offers coaching and professional development to all health care employees in both the clinical and administrative settings. In addition, Theresa is a group exercise instructor at the Marshfield Area YMCA. This serves as her social and physical well-being outlet, as she is a strong believer that exercising with friends is a productive way to keep healthy both mentally and physically. Also, she chairs the UW-Marshfield/Wood County Food for Thought annual fund-raising event for the UW Foundation. The UW Foundation offers funding for scholarships, tuition, and administrative costs. Theresa acknowledges how important it is to support education in our local communities.
Theresa grew up in New Hampshire, but has lived all over the United States and in Russia. She welcomes new challenges and appreciates the different perspectives that all people bring into her life. Her personal time is spent keeping active in winter sports with her two sons, Vasily and Tikhon. She also makes time for travel and ethnic cooking.
