Roberta Riportella
Professor and Chair
Email: rriporte@wisc.edu
Office: 306 Middleton Building
Web sites: Extension specialist page
Consumer Health Education page
Department of Consumer Science
Health Policy Specialist
University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension
School of Human Ecology
Middleton Buiding
1305 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-7088
Fax: 608-265-6048
Roberta Riportella, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair in the Department of Consumer Science, School of Human Ecology and a Health Policy Specialist for UW Cooperative Extension since 1993. The integrated nature of Roberta's appointment at both UW campuses means that while she is a tenured faculty member on UW Madison's campus, the direction of her work is greatly guided by the needs of local communities as their issues and concerns filter up to her through the Cooperative Extension county-based faculty system. One way in which this happens is through her leadership on Extension's Healthy Families and Community team. Another is through her leadership with Covering Kids and Families, a statewide coalition focused on assuring enrollment in Wisconsin's BadgerCare Plus program. Roberta teaches at UW Madison a course on health care issues, and has collaborated with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid around the the design of Medicare educational programs.
Roberta received her PhD from UW Madison in sociology in 1985. Her main focus has been on understanding and helping at risk families overcome barriers in accessing health care, barriers including lack of insurance as well as the maldistribution of health care providers for at risk populations, including low income and rural families and older adults.
