Rolf Norgaard

About me

I am Teaching Professor of Distinction Emeritus in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Colorado Boulder, where I also served as Associate Director for Upper-Division Writing.  I received my B.A. degree from Wesleyan University in 1974, and following a DAAD Fellowship at the University of Munich, pursued graduate studies in Comparative Literature at Stanford University, where I received my Ph.D. in 1982.  After serving as lead writer/editor at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), I joined the CU-Boulder faculty in 1986.  I played a leading role in the University Writing Program, and facilitated its transition to the current Program for Writing and Rhetoric. I developed and directed the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Writing, a collaboration across seven units and three schools and colleges.

I am the author of three books, fourteen articles and book chapters, and have presented at some forty national conferences.  I’ve published widely on rhetorical dimensions of writing, critical information literacy, technical communication and design, science and society, writing across and in the disciplines, and writing as a vehicle for civic engagement and ethical inquiry.  I also taught in the Honors Program and have served on more than 80 honors thesis committees.

Active in college and campus faculty governance, I served on the Arts and Sciences Council and the Boulder Faculty Assembly, and on the BFA Executive Committee, in addition to chairing several key college and campus task forces.  I sought to improve the professional standing of instructor-rank faculty, and have championed their role in helping CU-Boulder achieve “T1 at the R1”—first-rate undergraduate teaching at a research institution.

Major Honors and Awards

• Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award in Teaching and Pedagogy (2006)

• Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award in Leadership and Service (2014). 

• Promoted to Teaching Professor in Fall 2017 (the first year this title became available)

• Received the title of Teaching Professor of Distinction in Spring 2021.