Meet Our Expert Instructors

Wisconsin’s technical colleges have outstanding faculty with relevant experience in their fields that makes career programs meaningful for students. They also bring a variety of life experiences and community involvement to their teaching. These stories demonstrate how our faculty members add value to the technical college experience.

Dr. Bruce Forciea, MPTC instructor

Forciea found a way to make anatomy and physiology easy, fun

Dr. Bruce Forciea loves communicating so much that he keeps finding new ways to do it. Forciea gives lectures, creates animated videos, teaches online and in person, and writes blogs, textbooks and novels. A former iceskating coach and chiropractor, Forciea...
Kou Yang, NTC instructor

Facing challenges motivates Yang to inspire students to succeed

Kou Yang has faced many challenges in her personal and professional life. As an instructor she is driven to inspire, lead, mentor, and make an impact on people’s lives. “There was a time in my life where I had to...
Tom LaPierre, MATC instructor

LaPierre loves the science of baking

Tom LaPierre is one of only three people in Wisconsin who hold the American Culinary Federation’s designation as a certified executive pastry chef. He didn’t start out wanting to become a chef. LaPierre first tried his hand at commodities trading...
Ted Wilinski, MATC instructor

Wilinski teaches to multiply energy saving experts for Wisconsin

Two things motivate Ted Wilinski, Sustainable Facilities Management instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC): reducing energy use and helping students get better-paying jobs. “We need to use energy wisely and minimize what we take out of the ground,” he...
Jeff Vonau, MPTC instructor

Vonau likes stormy days

Some of Jeff Vonau’s best days were stormy days. Vonau was a lineman for an Electric Utility in Eagle River for 23 years and he found great satisfaction in getting the power back on for customers after a severe storm...
Brad Spates, FVTC instructor

Diesel Power instructor loves fixing things

Brad Spates put his first piston in an engine when he was 11 years old, working with his father on their farm. Now he and his dad restore old tractors together. A local Caterpillar dealer recruited Spates right out of...
Jon Burman, Western faculty member

Burman teaches with energy, enthusiasm and entertainment

Jon Burman is so passionate about renewable energy his family built an off-grid cabin powered only by solar panels. He has earned certificates in photovoltaics from Midwest Renewable Energy Association and traveled to Colorado for a Micro-Hydro certification from Solar...
GTC faculty member Patrick Hoppe

Hoppe knows students' names and stories

Pat Hoppe first engaged in technical education for the same reason as many others – he sought skills for a career, stability and a future. He found that and much, much more – and has since come back to give...
Josh Vandeberg, Western Technical College instructor

Vandeberg teaches students to see the world in a different way

While earning his philosophy degree, Joshua Vandeberg spent summers pouring concrete. He went on to get his contractor’s license and worked in construction for 20 years. During that time he gave his talents to working with disadvantaged youth. “Building Opportunities...
Bruce Cecka, FVTC instructor

Cecka used his skills on Peru archaeological project

Bruce Cecka is a good person to have along if you are visiting a state park. He often has an intimate knowledge of the trails, buildings and land features of the park. That’s because he supervised students who created maps...
Valerie Dantoin, NWTC instructor

Champion for sustainable agriculture teaches future farmers

Valerie Dantoin and her husband, Rick Adamski, have been practicing sustainable agriculture on Full Circle Farm in Seymour since the 1980’s . They maintain a herd of 80 to 100 head of dairy cattle using organic and managed grazing principles...
Craig Kunce, Western Technical College faculty

Children's author shares graphic design skills with students

As an art director, Craig Kunce hired many technical college graduates. He wanted the opportunity to mentor students, pass along what he had learned and prepare them for employment so he became an instructor. “I’ve been where they are,” he...
Sue Perry, Nicolet College

Nurse brings 36 years experience to her teaching

As a staff nurse at Howard Young Hospital in Woodruff, Sue Perry always loved teaching nursing students. However, when someone asked her to consider becoming a college instructor, she was surprised. “During my last year of the Nurse Practitioner program...
Farris Saifkani, NWTC instructor

Former GE engineer brings expertise to unique NWTC program

As an elementary school student in Tehran, Iran Farris Saifkani discovered the wonders of magnets. He came home from school and made his own electro magnet. The family learned of his experiment when Saifkani plugged his magnet into the wall...
Steve Michaud, CVTC faculty

Passion for teaching matches passion for his field

Steve Michaud is where he belongs. Every day at CVTC’s Manufacturing Education Center, he’s with his current students, preparing them for careers in the machine tool industry. He’s also with his former students, now his fellow instructors, in the Machine...

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