Matthew Ringenberg moved to Upland, Indiana, a small town of about 3,500 people. He grew up there, attending Eastbrook High School. He also stayed in his hometown to study at the undergraduate level at Taylor University, a liberal-arts college where his father taught.
The career goals for Ringenberg have evolved over time. As a young kid, he sought to be a lawyer, intrigued by what he saw on the television and the idea of making suspenseful arguments to try to win the day. More philosophical questions filled his head while he was an undergrad, and at the time he was focused on his studies in psychology. His second job at a psychiatric hospital altered the outlook he originally had for how his professional life would play out.
“I was working with psychologists and social workers, and it was in a children’s unit. A big part of their job was to work with the families whose children were in our care, and I was struck by how rapidly a lot of the kids made progress,” he said. “The interaction between the individual and all those systems is really crucial to success or failure, and that convinced me I wanted to be what I am today.”
Ringenberg earned his master’s in social work at the University of Kentucky, then he went on to pursue a related PhD. at Washington University in St. Louis. He officially became a social worker in 1993, practicing as one for a few years thereafter. A switch was made to the classroom a year before the new millennium arrived, so he’s mostly served as a teacher at Valparaiso University (VU) since then.
Ringenberg was one of its master’s-level program directors at The University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh for four years, as he was employed there in 2020. He returned to VU this past summer to lead the institution’s bachelor’s-level social-work program. His teachings within make up curricula, and he coordinates recruitment for developing it. The tasks and duties are completed with the partnership of one other leader, and they range for each person. Above all, he’s recognized there are multiple facets to the importance of his vocation.
“There are two very important qualities about our program that make it distinctive. One is the degree to which the faculty and students are connected to each other; we devote a lot of energy to building and mentoring relationships,” he said. “The second one is that we give these students an unusually high number of opportunities to test out what we teach in class out in the real world.”
Taking pleasure in his role, Ringenberg enjoys working with his co-workers – there’s a certain sense of camaraderie which makes competition an essential component of his strong bonds with them. Without them he wouldn’t be able to cultivate the talents and capabilities of each of the academically strong and committed students, piecing together their own understandings of his field.
All of Ringenberg’s efforts are targeted toward engaging his program’s participants in effective ways to improve their skills and quench their academic desires.The goal is to continue growing what’s provided to him and many others with stable fulfillment in their everyday lives. None of it would be possible without his workplace peers.
“The colleagues in my immediate department are wonderful. They’re competent, collegial, creative, and essentially we’ve created an atmosphere where people want to help each other out, and they feel confident that, if they need help from their colleagues, someone’s going to step up,” he said. “There’s an openness, and I don’t feel like I have to compete with them.”
There are a few particular ways Ringenberg sees his work as vital. He’s about sending his learners out of the limited educational environments found in academia and into the surrounding communities. Offering hands-on opportunities is how he goes about training the next generation of social workers for their futures and chosen paths. Their discernment processes contribute to why he feels he’s making a larger impact in the city that’s his home now.
“I’m helping prepare students to go out in the community. They represent themselves professionally; they represent the department and the university, and they’re providing a valuable service,” he said. “They’re going out to work with clients, to learn how to interact with them effectively, and the fact that I’m helping prepare them is one way that I try to serve my community.”
Both famous people and ones he’s known personally have inspired Ringenberg. His father’s been a rather significant source of inspiration in his life. As a result, Ringenberg has been driven and motivated by his own family to strive toward living out the perks of goodness.
In his leisure time, Ringenberg goes cycling, nurses his inner bird watcher, and sometimes goes out walking in the woods. The Dunes open up space for him where he can roam to watch the birds. If he’s in need of the homestead’s comfort, he’ll often settle for occasionally gazing at the bird feeders in his backyard. He’s an avid board-game player. On the side, he’s a painter.
For two years, Ringenberg lived in England. Out there he worked in a similar position to his current one. He got to be more than just a tourist, helping globetrotting scholars discover themselves through study-abroad experiences.
Ringenberg’s a resident of Valparaiso. He’s witnessed its various transformations take place over the past decade, delighting in how they’ve ultimately shed more and more light on what being here has to offer.
“I think Valpo has done some wonderful things in the past 15 years that make this a much more inviting place to be. The downtown area has always been decent, and there’s even green space there,” he said. “There are places for children to play, and there's the ice skating rink, which in the summer can also be used for farmers’ markets. There’s a lot of space that’s just pleasant to be in, and I think it pays dividends for the businesses and the people.”