CASPER, Wyo. — Retired University of Wyoming at Casper faculty member and former Casper College professor Dr. Gail D. Zimmerman has donated $250,000 to establish a first-of-its-kind fellowship for UW at Casper.
“The Dr. Gail D. Zimmerman Faculty Fellowship will help retain UW-Casper’s talented faculty and set up junior and midcareer faculty for long-term success, which will better serve students and the UW community in central Wyoming,” UW said in a Wednesday announcement.
The $250,000 donation will create a permanent fund that will be able to allow one or two faculty members per year to obtain course release, purchase laboratory equipment or engage in activities that will help them work toward tenure, extended-term status or promotion.
Another opportunity the fund can support is helping lecturers with high teaching loads redesign their courses or pay for other instructional purposes, according to UW.
“When I was in Casper, there were only two of us with active research agendas,” Zimmerman said in UW’s release. “I know from personal experience that it is a more challenging environment when you’re off the main campus.”
The fellowship aims to help UW at Casper retain faculty which will in turn better serve students.
“Most of the faculty at UW-Casper are junior or midcareer,” UW at Casper Dean Brent Pickett said. “Retaining those talented, award-winning faculty and recruiting the strongest candidates when we have open positions are critical to the success of UW’s sole branch campus. Dr. Zimmerman’s generous gift will greatly help us in those efforts.”
Zimmerman has supported other philanthropic efforts in the past.
“Along with the faculty fellowship, he contributed to UW’s student emergency fund, a student leadership fund, and a nontraditional and first-generation scholarship for students enrolled at UW-Casper,” UW said. “He also created the Zimmerman Secondary Science Education Award and is a trustee of the John Templeton Foundation.”
“Apart from teaching, Zimmerman served in the Wyoming State Legislature for 14 years — first as a representative and then as a member of the Wyoming Senate.”
