Contact: Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853 or mjdunlap@ku.edu.
Editors note: The surprise patrol will make visits to eight more KU faculty members on Friday, Aug. 25, Monday, Aug. 28, and Tuesday, Aug. 29. See accompanying faculty bios for today's award winners.
LAWRENCE - Chancellor Robert Hemenway surprised 12 University of Kansas faculty members by walking into their classrooms today to deliver each $5,000 and an award for excellence in teaching.
Today is the first day of classes at KU.
Hemenway, Provost David Shulenburger, KU Endowment Association President Jim Martin and Executive Vice President Dale Seuferling, and Commerce Bank Community President Mark Gonzales of Lawrence dropped into classes unannounced to recognize high-quality teaching and advising of graduate and undergraduate students.
The surprise patrol will make visits to eight more faculty members on KU's Lawrence, Wichita and Kansas City, Kan., campuses Friday, Aug. 25, Monday, Aug. 28, and Tuesday, Aug. 29. In all, 20 professors will be honored and $100,000 distributed.
The W.T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence recognize outstanding teachers and advisers at KU. A seven-member committee of students, faculty and KU alumni select each year's Kemper Fellows.
This is the fifth year in a five-year award program, which was renewed today for another five years. The William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee, established a $250,000 fund for the program. The KU Endowment Association provided $250,000 in matching funds.
"This gift has provided us an exciting and significant way to reward some of our most outstanding teachers and advisers," Hemenway said. "We are grateful to the Kemper Foundation and Commerce Bank and to our outstanding faculty."
James Kemper, chair of the Kemper Foundation Contribution Committee, said he and Commerce Bank were pleased to assist KU in recruiting and retaining talented teachers for the benefit of KU students.
The William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee, was established in 1989 after Kemper's death. The foundation is dedicated to continuing his lifelong interest in improving the human condition and quality of life. The foundation supports Midwest communities and concentrates on initiatives in education, health and human services, civic improvements and the arts.
KEMPER AWARD WINNERS FOR THURSDAY, AUG. 24
Quotes in the following biographies come from award nominations.
WALTER A. CLARK
Associate Professor Walter A. Clark teaches musicology in the School
of Fine Arts. His repertory of courses spans the history of music,
and his teaching to some extent is focused on Hispanic music. His
interests have helped to form an important bridge between music and
dance and the Center of Latin American Studies, and he has
participated in the center's summer offerings to high school
teachers. Colleagues admire his effectiveness in communicating with
the class at hand, whether it be Masterworks of Music for general
university students or a seminar on 19th century Italian opera for
graduate students.
"Lectures by Walter Clark are works of art; they are interesting, they are engaging, they are profoundly compelling. I have dropped in on his classes, intending to stay only a moment, and, finding myself unable to leave because the presentation is so interesting, have remained until the end."
DIANE R. FOURNY
Diane Fourny's titles demonstrate the breadth of her interests:
associate professor of French and Italian, and humanities and Western
civilization, and director of the Center for European Studies. She
has worked tirelessly in offering courses to students in professional
schools, championing language across the curriculum and establishing
a new summer language institute in Strasbourg for advanced students
in French. Her work in the Center for European Studies helped
organize a coherent program for students interested in an
interdisciplinary approach to Europe. She acts on her belief that the
purpose of higher education is to provide students "a lifeline to the
future."
"Professor Fourny possesses a rare gift: she encourages the student to further explore the world of academia with her invigorating love of teaching and her ebullient passion for her field - she teaches us, 'do not look at me; look where I am looking.'"
ESTELA A. GAVOSTO
Associate Professor Estela Gavosto is described as a superb and
gifted teacher who is committed to the belief that every student can
learn mathematics. Colleagues remark on the extraordinary service she
has provided to the mathematics department, principally through her
computer skills and talent for analyzing technology to improve and
enhance both instruction and research. Gavosto has devoted much time
to mentoring individual undergraduate math majors and enabling them
to do significant research during their undergraduate years. Her
enthusiasm for mathematics enables her to succeed in teaching
students at all skill and interest levels.
"I want the students to gain an appreciation for the subject, especially if it is the last math course requirement in their discipline. Each course should open new doors to the students. I would like my students to leave a course with the knowledge that will enable them in the future to use their mathematical foundations to interpret phenomena in other disciplines."
EDWIN W. HECKER JR.
Law Professor Webb Hecker is acknowledged by faculty colleagues to be
among the best citizens of the school, and by students to be among
the very best teachers. He consistently teaches some of the most
complex material - business associations, and wills and trusts - to
the largest classes in the law school. Hecker believes that advising
is a logical extension of teaching, and that his "open-door policy,"
whereby he is available to students for consultation about any issues
they wish to bring to him, provides the context in which real
professional relationships are formed, ones that endure long past
graduation.
"I made a push to master the use of computer technology in my work. The point of this is that I am not hung up in old ways of doing things. But I hope that Webb is. Any cyber tricks that he might seek to incorporate would be distraction or dilution. With Hecker, it was always the real thing, and it worked, authentically, not virtually."
MARY LEE HUMMERT
Associate Professor Mary Lee Hummert teaches in the areas of research
methodology, statistics, advanced interpersonal communication, and
communication and aging. Within the Department of Communication
Studies, she has directed teaching of the basic communication course,
which involves maintaining consistency in the content and quality of
an introductory course taught in numerous sections and training the
graduate students who teach those sections. In this capacity, she has
had a great effect on both undergraduate education at KU and the
future professoriate. Her further graduate responsibilities include
advising doctoral students in gerontology.
"Now that I am an assistant professor, I have a better understanding of how limited her time was (and still is, I imagine!). I frequently wandered into her office without an appointment, and she always answered my questions, often taking extra time to discuss related issues. Now I try to be this open to my own graduate students, and I find it is very difficult. She made it look easy."
V. PARKER LESSIG
Professor Parker Lessig returned to his alma mater as a faculty
member in the School of Business in 1972 and currently serves as
director of undergraduate programs. He is known as a versatile
instructor, who has taught with distinction a variety of courses at
all levels. Among his undergraduate initiatives, Lessig has developed
a technical manual that teaches effective business writing. He works
with the school's Summer in Italy program, and has developed a new
course, Business, Culture and Society in Western Europe, specifically
for students who are studying abroad.
"Parker will always be the master teacher and adviser. It is in the classroom where I will always picture him, although Parker will always try to extend the walls of the classroom as far into the world as possible. Parker is the model of our ideal professor."
GARTH A. MYERS
Garth Myers is an assistant professor of geography and of African and
African-American studies. He has incorporated technology such as
spatial data sets and satellite imaging of African environments into
his middle-level classes. The use of these tools, along with
small-group exercises, comprises a chapter in the recent book, "Great
Ideas for Teaching About Africa," which earned a Choice magazine book
award for excellence in publications about teaching. Myers thrives on
the great diversity of students with whom he works, and considers
this diversity a great strength of undergraduate education.
"As one of his advisees noted, 'Professor Myers is obviously a very busy person. We see him shooting down the corridors of Lindley Hall like an emergency room technician almost daily, but he always slows down to help a student's needs as part of his own priorities.' Garth Myers upholds with great honor this teacher-scholar ideal of integrating research and service in teaching, offering students his relentless intellectual and personal support."
RICHARD S. MUSSER
Rick Musser is the Clyde M. Reed teaching professor in the William
Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and has
primary teaching responsibility at all levels of reporting. The most
recent journalism accreditation report praised a "student body that
captures far more than its share of regional and national contest
awards." Musser's students account for the largest share of these
awards. He immerses his students in lessons that demonstrate that
clear writing demands incisive, critical thinking. A colleague notes
that Musser's teaching "combines the enthusiasm of a novice with the
knowledge and nuance of a master craftsman."
"Through what I now realize were endless visits to his office for consultation and editing came some of the best writing I did in college, and as my writing grew more confident, so did I. I came out of the class with an A and with a certain swagger about my skills that I have needed many times in the often harsh world of daily journalism. Rick is responsible for that."
ANTON ROSENTHAL
Tony Rosenthal, associate professor of history, came to KU in 1990
with the goal of translating his travel and research experiences in
Africa and Latin America into the classroom in such a way as to
ignite a sustained interest in the Third World among undergraduate
students. He has worked extensively in interdisciplinary venues to
develop new resources and courses to improve the educational
experience of students and faculty in the humanities and social
sciences, notably creating a film collection that has enhanced the
teaching of Latin American issues both on this campus and in
secondary schools throughout the state.
"Tony has pushed the improvement of teaching further than most of us ever consider. He is concerned not only with improving his own courses, or those of his colleagues, or even those taught by our graduate assistants. Instead, he has turned his attention outward to the historical profession and asked the wider community of scholars to improve their teaching. This is a mark of real concern for improving the world through teaching history more effectively."
CARL J. STRIKWERDA
Carl Strikwerda, professor of history and associate dean of the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has not allowed administrative
duties to divert him from the classroom. Last spring, his Holocaust
in History class had 237 students; his courses on Nazi Germany and
World War II draw similar large enrollments. He established and led
the co-major in European studies for its first four years, and is
currently working to establish an international studies master's
degree for students at the Edwards Campus.
"He has carried a heavier-than-average burden of graduate student advising, yet he has always been remarkably courteous and patient with the students. Furthermore, no one has played a more vigorous role than he in promoting the recruitment of foreign students to KU or the exposure of Americans to overseas travel and learning. This is almost a moral vision for Carl. He believes in the need for international education right down to his toes."
THOMAS W. VOLEK
Associate professor of journalism Tom Volek, William Allen White
Foundation teaching professor, teaches electronic media courses,
journalism history, journalism law and international communications.
He also holds an appointment in Russian and East European studies. He
is described by colleagues as one of the most knowledgeable people in
the world on the development of free speech and commercial expression
in the Russian Federation, and he is helping shape the emerging media
of Eastern Europe through his regular teaching in Russia and
Kyrgystan.
"Five years later I still rely on Professor Volek for professional advice and encouragement. Specifically, three years ago, Sen. Bob Kerrey wanted someone on staff 'to create, write, produce and market' a cable show. No one in our office had ever done this before. No one in our office had a clue where to start. Because of Professor Volek and his Corporate Television class - I did."
MARY K. ZIMMERMAN
Associate Professor Mary Zimmerman teaches in the Department of
Health Policy and Management, and also in sociology. Her areas of
interest include medical sociology, sociology of gender, women's
health and comparative welfare state/international health care
systems. In her Comparative Health Care Systems class, students spend
the entire semester researching another country's health care and
learning to think and answer questions from that system's
perspective. In so doing, they learn more about U.S. health care as
well.
"Her superb quantitative and qualitative research skills and knowledge of survey design make her an outstanding colleague and research partner. Moreover, the ability to share her research with students by their direct participation or through classroom discussion contributes to her teaching success. Her sincerity, communication skills and overall intellectual prowess combine to make her a valuable colleague and an exceptional teacher."