Frank Schieber joined the human factors faculty of the University of South Dakota in August 1992. He received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 1985. His human factors experience includes extensive consulting as well as "hands on" engineering in both the private and public sectors. His primary research interests have been focused upon basic and applied aspects of visually-guided performance (especially as regards aged individuals). He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Human Factors and recently completed a five year term as Chair of the National Research Council/TRB Committee on Visibility (AND40).
Professor Schieber's major "outside" interests include: his family, classical opera, wine (especially Rhones and Aussie Shiraz lately), Notre Dame football, "restoring" his 1966 Volkswagens, hacking around with electronics/computers, and managing his 20+ acre "farm" just west of Spirit Mound (in Clay County, South Dakota).
Operas attended recently include: Tannhausser (SF-Awesome), Elixir of Love (Des), Salome (Met), La Giocanda (Met-Delightful), Aida (Omaha-Excellent), Der Freishutz (Des) and Damnation of Faust (Met).
Best inexpensive wines (< $20) tasted this year: Labatut-Bouchard Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux (2005), Trapiche (Mendoza, Argentina) Broquel Malbec (2006) and 2008 Shoofly Shiraz (tastes like a $50 Barossa Shiraz but costs $12). Best mid-priced wine was the 2005 Chateau de Clairefont Margaux (2nd wine of Prieuré-Lichine). Treated myself to the 1999 Penfold's Grange (Good, but certainly not great since it was a bit oxidized). Best Midwest wine tasted this year: Park Farm Winery (Bankston, IA) Picket Fence (NV) - a semi-dry Vidal Blanc (grapes sourced from Illinois if I'm not mistaken). Several Iowa-grown Edelweis (e.g., Snus Hill) and Frontenac vintages ran a close second. Attended Winepress.us' 2009 WineFest (for winemakers) in Minneapolis-St. Paul. An excellent time was had by all. Curt's Dried Fruit Madeira was awesome!
My latest adventure has focused upon attempts to become a (good) winemaker. Progress is slow but in the right direction (books, online courses, seminars, building a wine analysis lab and microvinification facility, etc.). This includes planting a very small vineyard of Marquette grape vines. Marquette is a "cold hardy" varietal with Pinot Noir lineage. It shows promise for producing the upper Midwest's first consistently excellent dry red wine. However, this potential has yet to be realized.
Personal Photo Gallery
Family Photo Gallery
USD Home Page - Professor Schieber's Home Page - Previous Page