October 19, 2001

Contact: John Scarffe, KU Endowment Association, (785) 832-7336.

Engineering professor receives Career Teaching Award

LAWRENCE -- Don W. Green, Deane E. Ackers distinguished professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Kansas, received the 2001 Chancellors Club Career Teaching Award tonight at the 24th annual meeting of the Chancellors Club at the Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome.

The Chancellors Club, established in 1977 by the Kansas University Endowment Association, is KU's major-donor organization. The club's annual Career Teaching Award honors a senior KU faculty member who exemplifies the university's commitment to outstanding teaching. KU faculty members, students and alumni submit nominations for the $5,000 award.

"I truly do love teaching. It's very exciting to be recognized for something you like to do," Green said.

When asked about his teaching philosophy, Green said he believed in treating students as junior colleagues -- with respect. "Our course material is demanding, so I push students to cover the material, but I also try to convince them I'm on their side," he said.

Green has championed learners at all levels, wrote Marylee Z. Southard, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering. Green was instrumental in founding the Minority Engineering Program in 1972 and the KU chapter of the Society of Women Engineers in 1974. Southard said Green also has "given time to many struggling young faculty, working with them on teaching technique, content and organization."

As a founding member of a faculty group whose work led to the creation of KU's Center for Teaching Excellence, Green helped shape KU's recent emphasis on the importance of teaching. He served as an initial advisory member of the center.

Green's influence as an educator extends far beyond KU. He wrote the past two editions of Perry's Handbook, the primary reference book chemical engineering students and professionals use worldwide.

In addition to teaching, Green maintains an active research role as co-director of the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project with Paul Willhite, Ross H. Forney distinguished professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at KU. The program in oil reservoir technology is recognized as a model for technology transfer while it provides research opportunities for KU graduate and undergraduate students.

Green has won many university-wide and School of Engineering teaching awards. In 1987 he won KU's HOPE Award -- Honor for the Outstanding Progressive Educator -- for undergraduate teaching, which is based on a vote by the entire KU senior class, and he has been a HOPE finalist seven times. KU's chapter of Mortar Board twice named him outstanding educator, and engineering students have recognized him four times with the Gould Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

His many service activities include two terms as chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and chair of the Chancellor's Honors Scholarship Committee. Green has also supervised or co-supervised 67 master's degree students and 21 doctoral students in their work on theses and dissertations. In addition, he has served as the KU faculty athletics representative to the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA for the past five years.

Green joined KU's faculty in 1964 after several years of work in the petroleum industry. A native of Tulsa, Okla., he earned his bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Oklahoma.

KU Endowment is an independent, non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university and one of the largest.

The Kansas University Endowment Association is an independent, non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university and one of the largest.