William C Capman
Associate Professor and Chair
capman@augsburg.edu


Bill Capman “really, really likes biology” and thinks it’s important for all students, of all disciplines, to understand how life works and living things function.

“There’s more than just people in this world with much more diversity out there. I want students to see what I see – a fascination for living things. I see too many examples in the world where a lack of understanding of biology can be detrimental to the environment and us. Scientific literacy helps people make good choices.”

As a teenager he saw first hand natural areas getting destroyed, “and no one cared.” That started his interest in biology and he came to Augsburg because “it is a school that values teaching.”

Capman said the biology program at Augsburg puts much effort into giving students nontrivial research experiences.

“I like to challenge students to not just memorize facts, but to understand how everything fits together, to see the connections, to see the bigger picture.”