Title: (Retired) Geography Educator
Location: Estes Park, Colorado, United States
Dr. William Rense has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Scientists for dedication, achievements, and leadership in geology education.
Dr. Rense grew up with early exposure to academia as his father was a professor and emphasized the importance of education. Early on, he discovered his own interests in weather and geography, looking into these fields as a hobby. His earliest childhood memories stated out with weather factors, and eventually climatology became one of the areas of his specialization in when he was working on his college degree. Dr. Rense’s interest grew to incorporate physical geography, climatology and hydrology. With this background, he has spent more than four decades as a researcher and educator. Dr. Rense feels he subconsciously knew that he would go into education. When he began moving toward education, he realized that his talents dealt with young adults rather than children. Like his father before him, Dr. Rense felt most comfortable becoming an educator at the collegiate level.
In his own academic pursuits, Dr. Rense first earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1967. He continued at the institution for an additional degree, receiving a Master of Arts in 1969. From there, Dr. Rense earned a PhD at Oregon State University in 1974. Early in his career, he taught at his alma mater, the University of Southwestern Louisiana, starting as an instructor in 1968 and continuing as an assistant professor from 1973 to 1980. In 1980, he joined the faculty at Shippensburg University as a professor of geography and Earth science. He remained at this institution until his retirement in 2004.
Throughout his career, Dr. Rense authored numerous papers in the field and contributed articles to the World Book Encyclopedia. He maintained professional affiliation with the Association of American Geographers, the American Water Resources Association, the Pennsylvania Geography Society, the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center. He considers receiving a PhD to be the highlight of his career and the three years he spent as the chairman of the promotion committee. Furthermore, as a world traveler, Dr. Rense shares that his treks through various mountain ranges such as the Himalayas and the Karakoram mountains have been highlights. In his retirement, he endeavors to do more traveling.
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