Story by Mary Ellen Sanger

One of the country’s best known writing and program assessment experts, Doug Hesse, will deliver a lecture at Colorado State University on April 17 at 5:30 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Theater. This talk, sponsored by the Department of English, is free and open to the public with no registration required. Seating will be on a first-come basis.

Hesse, who is Professor, University Distinguished Scholar, and founding Director of Writing at the University of Denver, has served as President of the National Council of Teachers of English, has chaired the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and is past President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, while also holding leadership roles within the MLA, including Chair of the Executive Committee of the MLA’s Division on Teaching as a Profession. His talk, “Three Axes of Writing in the Research University: Professional, Civic, (Inter)Personal” will explore the meaning and value of writing within STEM-focused research institutions.

Hesse spent 20 years at Illinois State University prior to founding the DU Writing Program. At Illinois State, he directed the writing program, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, and the University Honors Program. Hesse’s numerous articles and four co-authored books focus on creative nonfiction and the personal essay; on narrative, rhetoric, and belles lettres; and on professional issues in writing programs. A keynote speaker at more than forty conferences, Hesse has completed program reviews at over fifty colleges and universities. His current projects include a longitudinal study of 60 undergraduate writers, archival work on the correspondence of first astronomer at the University of Denver, and a collection of personal essays. Hesse received his PhD from Iowa. He is an avid hiker and photographer and sings professionally with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus.