Klaus Tappe

ktappe@ltu.edu
http://www.angelfire.com/members/klaustappe/ 

Mr. Tappe teaches the German language Courses at Lawrence Tech. Given the strong German presence in Michigan - many Michiganders have roots in Germany (check out his website) and Germany being one of Michigan's most important trading partners, it is so important to teach Michigan students about the history of the State and the language spoken by more than 95 million Europeans..

His educational background include a B.A.equivalent in French and Phys. Ed. from the University of Göttingen, Germany, and an M.A. in French Literature and an A.B.D. in German Literature from the University of Michigan. At UofM, he also worked from 1983-1986 as a Resident Director of the Max-Kade German Haus (a great language coop. in Ann Arbor). 

He started teaching at LTU in the Fall of 2008. In addition, he has been teaching for a few years now at Wayne State University and Henry Ford Community College. Previously, he was a Fulltime Lecturer at EMU where he taught Undergraduate and Graduate German classes, including German Business, and German Business Culture, a class he also taught at MASCO Corporation. Besides teaching all those classes, he also directed EMU's former Study Abroad Program in Graz which included language classes taught at Deutsch in Graz, a wonderful language program in Austria's second largest city. His professional background also includes work for a big global relocation company called Cartus and MS Plastic Welders. 

Being a member of the AATG-Mi (the Michigan Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German), he was able to serve as its President. In that capacity, he arranged workshops and lectures, e.g. at former DaimlerChrysler facilities and at MIWLA, presentations intended. to bridge the gap between industry, business, and higher education. He also worked with Gene Strobel, the late President of GAHFI (the German American Heritage Foundation International) on German-American Heritage Programs.