Profile

Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of Letters and Science and Biology professor, has had many works published, including books and columns.

Zimmerman born in New York City, N.Y. where he grew up and lived for 18 years with his sister, who is 4 ½ years older than him. He attended Lawrence High School, where he was the editor of his school newspaper.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Chicago where he graduated in 1974 with an associate bachelor’s degree in Geography. He than attended the University of St. Louis where he received his P.H.D in Ecology.

He is currently married to Andrea Gullickson, chair of the music department at UW-Oshkosh and has a 21-year-old and 16-year-old child.

In 1992 he came to UW-Oshkosh to become the dean of the College of Letters and Science. Before coming to Oshkosh as dean, Zimmerman was a professor of biology and the associate dean of the College of Letters and Science at Oberlin College.

“It was an opportunity to move from associate dean to dean and to move from a private institution to a public institution. It all seemed exciting at the time,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said the hardest part about being dean is dealing with hiring personnel and sanctioning staff members.

Zimmerman said he had two jobs that were tied for being the worst jobs he ever had.
Him and friend were hired at KFC and fired after one day. They didn’t know that they were just replacements because two people had called in sick for the day. To top it all off, they didn’t get any pay.

“What the worst thing was watching them flip cigarette butts into the batter,” he said.

The other was a summer job where he parked cars at a beach club. His boss would rifle through Mercedes bends looking for drugs and he stole tips from the other employees. He confronted his boss on the last day of the season and got punched in the face.

In 1995 he published his book “Science, Non-Science and Non-sense: Approaching Environmental Literacy,” which helps the public make informed judgments on science.Zimmerman has also been a newspaper columnist that specializes in scientific and environmental issues.

His columns have appeared in many Op-Ed columns, including the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. He has also had book reviews published around the country. Zimmerman was also editor of the Newsletter of the Ohio Center for Science Education.

In his free time, he enjoys reading, walking, being outdoors and bird watching.