Recognized as a professor who invests deeply into the lives of his students, Dr. Zachary Dowdle has been chosen by those students at William Woods University (WWU) as this year’s distinguished professor at WWU.
Dr. Dowdle, assistant professor of History, received the 2023 Louis D. Beaumont Dad’s Association Distinguished Professor of the Year Award as part of the University’s year-end academic honors. The award carries an honorarium and is presented annually to a faculty member who has displayed an outstanding dedication to teaching. Recipients of the award are nominated and chosen by students.
One student who nominated Dr. Dowdle for the award commented that “this professor’s classes are engaging, his involvement in the WWU community is incredible, and he works to constantly improve the student experience.”
Dr. Dowdle was further praised by another student as someone who is “consistently able to take a subject that many may find boring and turn it into engaging stories that need to be heard.” Another added that “I’ve never met a professor so invested into the lives of their students,” while still another described Dr. Dowdle as “an outstanding professor, advocate and general educator.”
A member of the William Woods faculty since 2020, Dr. Dowdle’s major areas of interest include 19th Century Politics, American Slavery, Antebellum Economic Development, Reconstruction and Reconciliation and Missouri/Midwest History. He currently teaches courses in Early American History; From Slavery to Freedom to Civil Rights; Industry, Ideology and War; Revolutionary Mexico; Modern U.S. History; The History of Race in America, and World War II.
Dr. Dowdle received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri, Columbia (2019), and his master’s (2014) and bachelor’s (2010) degrees, both in History, from Angelo St. University in San Angelo, Texas.
