Charles Wedemeyer 

Charles Wedemeyer was the William H. Lightly Professor of Education (Emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Wedemeyer is known for his research in distance education. He worked extensively to extend learning opportunities to those excluded from traditional learning opportunities (i.e., poor, geographically isolated, the (dis)abled.) He developed theoretical frameworks that constitute the "core" of distance learning theory/education (i.e., learner autonomy). 

Wedemeyer earned his BS in Education with a major in English and an M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was posthumously awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Oxford University and the University of Ethiopia. 

Wedemeyer received many accolades during his career, including: 

• Fulbright Senior Scholar

• Distinguished and Sustained Excellence and Innovation in Higher Education Award from the University of Wisconsin--Green Bay

• Wisconsin Fellow from the Madison Human Values Institute

•  Rotary Senior Service Award

Wedemeyer was a prolific author with his best-known work, Learning at the Back Door: Reflections of Non-Traditional  Learning in the Life Span.