Campus mourns passing of Prof. Emeritus ‘Joe’ Moran

Joseph Moran, 1979

UW-Green Bay learned of the passing of award-winning faculty member Joseph Moran (Natural and Applied Sciences). Services are Monday. According to the obituary, Moran, 74, died peacefully Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at Angel’s Touch Assisted Living in Ledgeview.

He began teaching at UW-Green Bay in 1969 as an instructor of meteorology in the College of Environmental Sciences and retired as a professor of Natural and Applied Sciences in 2001 with emeritus status. In 1993 he received the Founders Award for Teaching Excellence. Also in 1993 the UW System Regents Teaching Award, cited Moran for his “profound ability to communicate subject matter effectively and inspire in students an enthusiasm for learning.”

“His humor and occasionally exaggerated Boston accent kept his students engaged, whether he was teaching meteorology, earth science or environmental science,” the obituary reads. In 1991, Moran was named the Barbara Hauxhurst Cofrin Professor of Natural Science and in 1994 received the Boston College Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and was included in the American Men and Women of Science.

Professor Joseph Moran and a group of students at the Weather Station ca. 1970-1979

Moran consistently received high rankings in student and peer evaluations. In a statement of his teaching philosophy, Moran explained “I learned to respect students as people, to recognize their strengths, to deal honestly with their short-comings, to encourage them to tackle things that they didn’t think they could do, to be ever vigilant for the late-bloomer and to encourage them to keep their university experience in its proper perspective.”

Joseph Moran at blackboard in 1982

Photos courtesy of the UW-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center