Janis Bruwelheide

Janis Bruwelheide began her career at Montana State University in 1974 and retired in 2013 as professor emerita. She received a sabbatical to work for OCHE on distance education and interactive television when the Internet was in the early phases of educational use.  Bruwelheide was an early advocate of distance education using interactive television and software. With a substantial U.S. Department of Education grant, Bruwelheide created the Borderless Access to Training and Education (BATE) program, which converted a campus-based undergraduate K-12 school library media program into an ongoing self-sustaining graduate online program serving thousands of teachers throughout Montana and beyond. BATE helped expose, reduce and resolve barriers to distance education.  For 39 years at MSU, Bruwelheide remained on the cutting edge. Her determination and foresight are part of the reason why her college was an early adopter of distance learning despite skepticism from her primarily male colleagues in instructional technology. She understood that distance learning would deliver educational opportunities to all of Montana in support of the land-grant mission.  She is a nationally recognized expert on copyright law with a landmark book published by the American Library Association and National Education Association, The Copyright Primer (2nd Ed., 1995).

Without Janis Bruwelheide’s dedication and hard work, the Borderless Access to Training and Education program, which positively impacts so many lives and careers, in Montana and beyond, simply would not exist.

Photo: MSU Communications