Read Gilgen

Director of L&S Learning Support Services

About the Director

I got into this business first by getting a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of California, Irvine . I taught Latin American Lit and Spanish Linguistics for 5 years at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill , then moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison , where I taught for 3 years. In 1981 I was appointed Director of (then) Labs for Recorded Instruction. Since then we've added video and microcomputer support, so in 1986 we changed our name to L&S Learning Support Services. If it has anything to do with instructional technology, I'm interested.

• Guess which one is the director. A. The guy with the glasses. B. The guy with the tie.
• If you'd like a little more "serious" information about my professional background, see my vita (in PDF format).
• I'm a long-time member of IALLT (International Association for Language Learning Technology). I served as its president in 1999-2001.
• In a world increasingly blighted by Word, I remain a loyal WordPerfect fan, and I write articles and books on that program in my spare (ha!) time. My most recent book is Special Edition: Using WordPerfect 10 from Que (Macmillan), co-authored with Laura Acklen. Info at her WPWriter web site. I've also written books on PowerPoint, my latest being Que's Absolute Beginner's Guide to PowerPoint 2003.
• My undergraduate days were spent at Brigham Young University and I'm a loyal Cougar fan.
• I'm also a loyal Badger fan. My daughter was a starter at catcher and outfield on the first ever University of Wisconsin Women's Fast Pitch Softball team (1995-1999).
• I'm decidedly a fan of my wife, for lots of reasons, not the least of which is her great art talent. See her landscape quilt creations at GilgenArt.com.

Talk to the Director

If you'd like to talk to me about any of the above, send me electronic mail: read@lss.wisc.edu

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