Get to Know Blackhawk’s Dr. Tracy Pierner, President of the College

Editor’s note: Over the past few years, we have been featuring spotlights on new employees and outstanding students within our campus community. We are excited to announce the launch of our new series, “Get to Know Blackhawk,” which will follow a Q&A format, allowing a more simple yet conversational approach to sharing the stories of individuals connected to the college.

What is your name and where did you grow up?

Tracy Pierner. I grew up in Green Bay with a short stint in Milwaukee.

What is your role at Blackhawk Technical College? How long have you worked here?

I have had the honor of serving as the President of the College since June 2016.

What was your journey to this role? Where did you go to school? What did you study?

I earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master’s in Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, and a Ph.D. from Indiana State University. After service in the U.S. Army and graduation, I began my career as an engineer with Allen-Bradley in Milwaukee, later moving to Cleveland, Ohio. My career in higher education started at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay. After graduating from the doctoral program, my wife and three daughters moved to South Carolina and I began my role as Dean of Technical Education at Aiken Technical College, later moving to Detroit, Michigan, to begin as Vice President of Academic Affairs at Henry Ford College before coming to Janesville. From there, I moved here.

Is there something that drew you to this career?

This is quite a long story, but to make it short and sweet, I moved into my role as an instructor at NWTC because it was the best way to keep health insurance while I built an engineering consulting business on the side. The consulting business went quite well, but I fell in love with higher education and the mission of the technical college and the rest is history.

What do you like most about Blackhawk?

The students, staff, faculty, and interacting with the community. Graduation and the first day of classes are the highlights.

Why should a student choose Blackhawk?

Put simply, it’s the best bang for the buck. When you analyze the cost versus the benefits, there are very few pathways and places where you can make as large of an impact on your career progression for as little of a price.

What is your life like outside of work? Family? Community involvement? Adorable pets?

I have three daughters, ages 25, 26, and 28, two of which are married. One lives in Utah and the other two live in South Carolina. As you might imagine, the nice part of this is going to visit them. The downside is we don’t see them enough. 

I try to keep myself busy with travel, reading, and exercise. For reading, I only read non-fiction and typically focus on periods of history. For travel, we enjoy places that are warm. For exercise, I ride my bicycle every Tuesday evening with the Janesville Velo Club and have done several significant bicycle rides every summer with a core group of friends. COVID has slowed this, but we would typically ride a 4–7-day excursion through the mountains of the southeast for about 300-800 miles. To complete this type of trip, it means training the rest of the year so that takes up a significant amount of time. Our next trip scheduled is a 7-day trek from Virginia to North Carolina on the 800-mile Blueridge Parkway.

What is your favorite movie?

It depends on the genre and my mood. The opening scene in “Saving Private Ryan” has to be the most intense 15 minutes on film. Science fiction and action are my favorite genres.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

OMG – Turtle – hands down.

Who is your biggest influence?

General Patton

What is your favorite quote?

“Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult.” - Winston Churchill

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, which food would you pick?

Chicken Booyah

What's one song that must always be on your playlist?

“Back in Black” by AC/DC

What is your dream vacation destination?

The best vacation I ever had was with a group of buddies and biking five former stages of the tour in five days in the Pyrenees for our 40th birthdays. The years of training leading up to the trip were worth it as we successfully completed over 500 miles of bicycling through the mountains in five days. Best trip ever. We planned on doing the same thing in the Alps for our 50th birthdays but COVID ruined it and now we are trying to reschedule.

Who is your favorite Muppet?

Kermit

If you could have dinner with anybody, alive or dead, who would you choose?

My grandma; I never met her.

What/who is your favorite sports team or pro athlete?

Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, and all the Badgers and Gamecock teams. I do root for the Cleveland Guardians, but not the Browns or Cavs.

What is your favorite TV show?

It used to be “Seinfeld” and “MASH,” but I don’t watch regular TV anymore. Now I binge-watch series on Netflix, HBO, or Amazon.  

What/who is your favorite book or author?

David McCullough – all his stuff, but partial to 1776.

What is your favorite pizza topping?

Onions, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and Canadian bacon

What game show would you most want to participate in? Do you think you could win?

None; I am not talented enough to win anything.

What’s one thing on your bucket list?

Bike former tour stages in the Alps. Already checked off the Pyrenees.