William Urbrock

William Urbrock, a native of Chicago, IL, was a founding member of the Religious Studies department at UW Oshkosh who taught from 1972 until his retirement in 2004. Urbrock attended college in Milwaukee and Fort Wayne, Indiana before attending seminary school in St. Louis and, finally, studying near eastern languages and civilizations at Harvard University until 1969. Urbrock was teaching at a college in Pennsylvania when he saw an advertisement in the local newspaper calling for qualified persons to help build a religious studies department at UW Oshkosh. Eager to move closer to home, he applied and was hired on what was initially a one semester contract. This one semester contract turned into 32 years. In this interview, Urbrock discusses growing up as the child of first and second generation immigrants in Chicago, his impressions of Oshkosh upon his arrival, working with faculty and students, and establishing the religious studies major. He shares details of administrative changes, including an incident in which he was fired by the outgoing President Guiles and then rehired by the incoming Chancellor Birnbaum following some pointed student lobbying on his behalf. Overall, Urbrock has fond memories of the campus and is still heavily involved with the community, teaching classes in the area and attending university cultural events. He encourages current students to try new things and take advantage of all of the opportunities life presents them.