I myself was a first-generation college student and remember well both the joys and challenges of that experience. Like many first-generation college students, my world was opened up in amazing ways at college through experiences my parents never had, and I also had to navigate a world they were entirely unfamiliar with. I really look forward to engaging with first-generation students at the UI and doing what I can to support them on their higher education journey. I received undergraduate degrees in music and English from Northern Illinois University, a master’s degree in English from NIU, and a PhD in English from the University of Iowa. My older brother received a bachelor’s degree and my younger brother attended some community college, but I remain the only member of my immediate family who went on to graduate school. In my career, I have worked with undergraduate students at all levels, from developmental courses through honors, as well as graduate students. After a number of years teaching in English and interdisciplinary departments at different types of schools (Cardinal Stritch College, Michigan State University, and Moorhead State University in Minnesota), I returned to the University of Iowa in 1999. I worked for a year as a program assistant with the University Honors Program, with primary duties in helping organize student activities, and then was hired in the Office of the President, where I still work, to be the president’s speechwriter and office writer and editor. I also work on special projects such as helping to organize the annual Presidential Lecture. I have served under five permanent and four interim presidents, so I have experienced a lot of UI history firsthand! Throughout my time here at the UI, I have continued to teach, including First-Year Seminars (including three sections on the history of the University of Iowa), the College Transition and the Transfer Transition courses, and the interdisciplinary courses “The Good Society” and “Introduction to Place Studies.” As well, I have served as a Critical MASS mentor. I have also taught for many years in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and other community education programs. Earlier in my career, I taught many sections of first-year writing, and I also directed a First-Year Experience program at Cardinal Stritch. The undergraduate experience, including the first-year experience, has always been of special importance and interest to me, knowing how life-changing and exhilarating (and, as I said, challenging) it can be. In addition to academic writing that I have done over the years, I also enjoy personal writing, especially about our relationships with place and the natural world. I have published two books—Under a Midland Sky (Ice Cube Press, 2008) and Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit (co-authored with Cindy Crosby), Ice Cube Press, 2019)—and have had essays published in numerous periodicals and anthologies. Currently I am an apprentice in the Circle of Trust Facilitator Preparation Program with the Center for Courage and Renewal. I am married with two children. My wife, Susan Prepejchal, directs a local nonprofit organization that provides free English classes for immigrants and refugees. My son, Nathaniel, works at Systems Unlimited here in Iowa City as a job coach for clients with disabilities and has an associate’s degree in welding and training in band instrument repair. My daughter, Sylvia, is a UI graduate and is currently working on a master’s degree in linguistics with a concentration in Teaching English as a Second Language at Michigan State University. We have two older dogs at home, an Italian greyhound mix named Petey and a rat terrier named Zander. Although we don’t have any at this time, we have adopted a number of retired/rescued racing greyhounds over the years.