Faculty profile: Steven M. Cramer

Steven Cramer (27K JPG)

Steve Cramer usually teaches classes that begin at 1:20 p.m. In the teaching profession, that's what's known as bad timing. Most students have just eaten lunch. Many have already attended a class or two. Given a choice between analyzing the structural deficiencies of buildings or taking a nap, sleep sometimes seems the better option.

It is just one indication of Cramer's abilities as a teacher that napping is about the last thing students would do in his classroom. Professor Cramer was recognized for his teaching abilities this year when he was named a recipient of one of UW-Madison's Distinguished Teaching Awards. He was one of seven university faculty members to receive the award, and joined colleague James Blanchard, associate professor of engineering physics, as one of the two recipients from the College of Engineering.

"It's always a disappointment if I see someone drowsing off," Cramer says with a smile, knowing it rarely happens.

Cramer teaches a wood structures design course, as well as several different structural analysis courses that focus on structures such as buildings and bridges. His approach to teaching is straightforward — engage students through a Socratic method of asking questions and using responses to further engage debate and discussion.

He's known to make a sly observation or two in the classroom, finding humor a good way to keep discussion moving. He uses plenty of chalk-and-blackboard notes, and isn't devoted to out-of-classroom assignments.

"More than trying to convey information, I'm trying to teach a thought process," he says. "I really feel a teacher has to be a leader in the classroom. I try to set the pace, set the tone."

His notions of setting the tone were put to a test on Sept. 11, 2001. Cramer — an engineering professor who specializes in building structures — knew the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings would be on the minds of his students. He was scheduled to teach class the next day. "After Sept. 11, we realized that what we do is anything but trivial," he said. "Even though it was kind of fresh and painful, I decided we might as well hit it right on. I wasn't really prepared to talk about it. It then dawned on me, that's our responsibility. As engineers, we're rarely thrust into that kind of situation. Yet people wanted to know why the towers collapsed."

The next day, classroom discussions on the World Trade Center attacks led to a project that looked at the engineering of the buildings and analyzed why they collapsed. "I think it helped the students deal with the emotion of this," he said. "There clearly were a lot of students who were thinking seriously about this."

Cramer first caught the engineering bug at the school where he now teaches. He received his BS in civil and environmental engineering from UW-Madison in 1979, before heading to Colorado State for his MS and PhD. He joined the CEE faculty in 1984.

He credits civil & environmental engineering faculty such as C.K. Wang, Charles Salmon, and Ken Potter for influencing both his career and his approach to teaching. Emeritus Professor James Stoltman, who taught anthropology at UW-Madison, was such an inspiration to Cramer he almost transferred out of engineering. Even clergy he's known through the years provide ideas on how to teach. "Usually they deliver with conviction, and a teacher needs to do the same thing," he said.

Still, it's the faces Cramer sees right after lunchtime that provide his daily inspiration for teaching well. "These folks come here, they're paying tuition, they're trying to find their path, and there is so much we can offer them if we take the time for it."