UW Pianist Wu Receives Sabbatical Augmentation Award

Chi-Chen Wu, a University of Wyoming associate professor of piano and world-renowned pianist, is the recipient of UW’s 2019 Flittie Sabbatical Augmentation Award.

The award will support Wu’s travel and other expenses to Boston, Norway, Germany, France and Taiwan during her sabbatical in the 2019-2020 academic year.

The Flittie award goes to a qualified faculty member whose two-semester sabbatical leave has the potential to enrich instruction at UW. Named for the late sociology Professor Ed Flittie, who bequeathed funds to augment sabbatical salaries, the award is made by the Faculty Development Committee of the UW Faculty Senate.

Wu joined UW’s faculty in 2012, and this will be her first sabbatical leave. During her time away from campus, she will be involved in an electroacoustic recording project with composer Ralf Gawlick at Boston College, then perform in concerts across the United States and Europe; record with violin Professor Gregory Maytan at the Norwegian Academy of Music, then perform in Europe; and collaborate with a string quartet in Taiwan, including a concert and lecture series.

“All of my sabbatical projects will enrich my classroom teaching and bring my course designs up to date to better prepare our students for the professional world of the 21st century,” Wu says. “My collaborations with professors and professionals in Boston, Norway, Germany and Taiwan will potentially create opportunities for cross-institution exchange programs for our students.”