Core Faculty and Advisors

Gerald J. Alred, Program Coordinator

Gerald J. Alred is Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate Program in International Technical Communication and Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is an internationally known author of numerous books and articles that reflect his research interests and teaching. His most recent books include The Business Writer's Handbook (6/e), both a Fortune and Book-of-the-Month Club selection, as well as the Handbook of Technical Writing (6/e), The St. Martin's Bibliography of Business and Technical Communication, and The Professional Writer: A Guide for Advanced Technical Writing.

His most recent publication is "Essential Works on Technical Communication," which was featured in the special 50th Anniversary Issue of Technical Communication. He is also author of "'We Regret to Inform You': Toward a New Theory of Negative Messages" selected for the Bedford Bibliography and "Are Textbooks Contributions to Scholarship?" in College Composition and Communication.

His article " Teaching in Germany and the Rhetoric of Culture," published in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, is based on his interest in cross-cultural studies and his experience as Guest Professor at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. At Giessen he taught courses in the theory, practice and pedagogy of business and technical writing. Read his comments on technical writing and the humanities in an interview with the Giessener Anzeiger, a regional newspaper in Germany. Gerald Alred is a UWM Outstanding Teaching Award recipient and has been honored an Associate Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication for "continuous and outstanding contributions as an educator and author of textbooks, handbooks, and research publications."

Courses Regularly Taught

Writing for Business Management
Advanced Professional and Technical Writing
Professional Writing Theory and Pedagogy

If you are interested in more detailed information about Professor Alred's professional interests and activities, you can visit his Website or email him at alred@uwm.edu.

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David Clark

Dave Clark (Ph.D. Iowa State University) joined the faculty in the Fall Semester 2001 as an Assistant Professor of English. His dissertation is entitled "The Rhetoric of Political Distance: Living and Working along the Technical/Social Split.'" He has given numerous presentations at professional conferences on such topics as "Constructing the Web Business Arena: Rhetorics of the Corporate Web" and "'The Road Ahead': Visionary Technology Texts as Sites of Rhetorical Education in the Workplace."

He has been a senior technical writer at Palisade Systems, Inc. and a Web site developer for dozens of clients since 1994. Professor Clark is a recipient of both a Teaching Excellence Award and the Aubrey E. Galyon Award for Academic Excellence at Iowa State University.

Courses Regularly Taught

Document Design (English 431)
Knowledge Management
Information Architecture

If you are interested in more detailed information about Professor Clark's professional interests and activities, you can visit his Website, or email him dclark@uwm.edu.

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Rachel Spilka

Rachel Spilka (Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon) is Assistant Professor of English at UWM. Formerly, she directed the Technical Writing Program at the University of Maine and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric and professional communication at Purdue University. Recently, she served as a Senior Information Design Specialist at the American Institutes for Research, a Technical Editor at MicroSim Corporation, and a Communications Analyst for health and military research programs at the RAND Corporation.

Professor Spilka is well known as editor of Writing in the Workplace: New Research Perspectives (Southern Illinois University Press), which is one of the leading publications on research methodology in the field and winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Technical and Scientific Writing. She also won the same award for an earlier article on multiple audience adaptation. She has completed three qualitative studies of workplace rhetoric, and is now planning a fourth qualitative study of how corporations define and evaluate the quality of professional communication. Dr. Spilka was elected to serve on the executive committee of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writer, and was invited to serve as Book Review Editor of Technical Communication Quarterly. She was also invited to be one of seven national participants of a "blue ribbon panel" charged with evaluating the journal published by the Society for Technical Communication.

Courses Regularly Taught

Project Management for Professional Writers
Advanced Technical Writing
Professional Writing Theory

If you are interested in more detailed information about Professor Spilka's professional interests and activities, you can visit her Website, or email her at spilka@uwm.edu.

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William V. Van Pelt

William V. Van Pelt (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz) is Associate Professor of English. Professor Van Pelt is author of professional and technical writing publications, such as "A Conceptual Framework for Cultural and Individual Factors in International Web-Document Design," IEEE Transactions in Professional Communication and "Peer Collaboration and the Computer: Bridging the Gap Between the Academy and the Work Place," which was nominated for the NCTE Award for Excellence in Technical and Scientific Writing. As this title reflects, his work moves from highly theoretical discussions of computers and technical writing to very savvy, practical advice to students about workplace communication and practice. As a result, he has helped dozens of UWM students find employment as technical writers and enabled the department to acquire two computer laboratories.

Professor Van Pelt has been a technical writer for Bechtel Engineering Corporation in California, and has designed training curricula for Intel Corporation and many other businesses. He has also won many research, teaching, and faculty development grants, has given close to 30 presentations at national conferences, and has consulted regularly to help companies and educational institutions integrate computer software into their writing programs.

Courses Regularly Taught

Writing for Information Technology
Advanced Writing Workshop
Contemporary Rhetorical Theory

If you are interested in more detailed information about Professor Van Pelt's professional interests and activities, you can visit his Website, or email him vanpelt@uwm.edu.

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Carolyn Kott Washburne

Carolyn Kott Washburne is Coordinator of the Department's Internship Program and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English. She is a highly successful freelance writer and editor who has published two books for adults and six books for children. Her feature articles have appeared in The New York Times, Utne Reader, Mademoiselle, Ms., Harper's Bazaar, Milwaukee Magazine, The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, and the Chicago Tribune.

Professor Washburne developed the Writing Internship for English Majors, which gives students the opportunity to get "real world" experience in the areas of publishing, technical writing, public relations/advertising, corporate communications, and not-for-profit settings.

Courses Regularly Taught

Editing and Publishing
Creative Nonfiction for Publication
Writing Internship

If you are interested in more detailed information about Professor Washburne's professional interests and activities, you can visit her Website, or email her at ckw@uwm.edu.

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