Mike Mattison - Biography

Mike Mattison is Director of the Writing Center at Wittenberg University.

Truth be told, I'm probably working in a writing center because I had cancer. When I was a graduate student at Iowa State University, I was undergoing chemotherapy, so the English department there was trying to make things a little easier on me. Instead of having me teach two courses in one term, they asked if I would teach one and work in their writing center to make up the other hours. (Yes, there's an assumption there that writing center work is less strenuous than classroom teaching.) Little did they know what they would start.

After a couple of years out of school (and after getting rid of the cancer), I went for my doctorate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where I again worked in a writing center. During my time there, I had a chance to become the Assistant Director, and took it. That led to my applying for a job at Boise State, where I directed the Writing Center and taught for the English Department. I stayed at Boise State for six years, and then headed back to my home state of Ohio, to take over the Writing Center at Wittenberg University in the fall of 2009.

As for the non-academic stuff: I'm a Taurus who drives a Subaru. I was born and bred in Ohio, lived in Kentucky and New York and Idaho, and passed through Texas and Wyoming. I'm a big fan of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Elton John, and Tom Waits. I tend to pick up pennies left lying on the sidewalk, and I also toss salt over my shoulder if it spills. I appreciate the collaboration of water, malt, hops, and yeast, especially on a warm day, and I think the only bad pun is one that goes unuttered.

Email: mmattison@wittenberg.edu
Web Site: http://userpages.wittenberg.edu/mmattison/