Join Dr. Michel Wattiaux, Professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison as he reflects on his “teaching life” as a 25-year journey of challenging the status-quo in the quest of designing learner-centered educational opportunities for students of diverse backgrounds and worldviews. In brief, his quest to teach more effectively has been driven by a passion to empower students— not only to acquire disciplinary knowledge, but also to learn how to learn as the foundation of their future accomplishments. He’ll share how he changed through his career from serving primarily as a content expert to an expanded role that also addressed providing student motivation (i.e., sparking their interest), setting high yet realistic standards, and mentoring them throughout their learning journey. Ultimately, the authentic ways in which he challenged his students to become the best version of themselves created a boomerang effect as they, in turn, challenged him to become the best version of himself as an educator.