Gary Willden, Ed.D, CPRP aka "Dr. FUN!" Professor Recreation Program Director   Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education Department of Health Promotion & Human Performance 2801 University Circle Ogden, UT  84408-2801 gwillden@weber.edu 801-626-6470 801-626-6228 (fax)     Teaching Assignments REC 3050 Recreation and Leisure REC 3600 Outdoor Adventure Recreation REC 3610 Outdoor Survival Skills REC 3840 Social and Therapeutic Recreation REC 4550 Outdoor Education REC 4930 Outdoor Education Workshop PE 1520 Hiking PE 1527 Rock Climbing, Elementary PE 1528 Rock Climbing, Intermediate PE 1630 Cross Country Skiing, Elementary PE 1631 Cross Country Skiing, Intermediate PE 3260 Lifetime Leisure Activities

Personal I am the father of 7 children ages 19 to 35 - six sons and one daughter, and the grandfather of 9 (to date).  My wife, Joan and I live in Centerville, UT and are very active volunteers in church and community pursuits.  We are also real estate investors through our business "4th Habit Investors".  Joan runs a large seasonal greenhouse business in West Valley - Lambert Growers. This year (2006-2007) I have been doing a "semi" sabbatical - spending 6 to 10 days per month down in Zion National Park.  My projects there have included trail use surveys, backcountry encounter monitoring, and I'm currently developing a big project on all the Movies that have been filmed in or very near the Park.  I'm planning on developing this into a DVD and/or book: "Hollywood Comes to Zion", and am working toward presenting a Film Festival of the 36 such movies I've been able to acquire, for the Zion Park Centennial in 2009.   Teaching Philosophy I am a huge advocate of "experiential learning" and strive to incorporate as much actual "doing" activity in my courses as possible.  My students often comment on how much they enjoyed the fact that we actually DID things in my classes instead of just talking about them.  My desire is to topple the typical definition of a "Lecture" which is: "the transmittal of information from the notes of the professor to the notes of a student without passing through the mind of either".   Professional Focus To enrich the lives of students and their families with active and adventurous outdoor pursuits; preparing some for successful recreation and outdoor careers, and providing all with motivation and inspiration to live fruitful lives.   Significant Accomplishments & Publications I am a frequent attendee, presenter and honoree at a large number of professional organization conferences and am listed in at least 10 different National and International "Who's Who" type reference volumes.