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LAWRENCE -- This is one class interruption the teachers won't mind.
Starting tomorrow, six faculty members at the University of Kansas will be surprised with Kemper Awards for teaching excellence. The monetary awards, worth $5,000 each, recognize faculty members for outstanding teaching and advising.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway will lead a "Surprise Patrol" to deliver the awards -- complete with an oversize check -- to unsuspecting teachers beginning Thursday, the first day of classes at KU.
The Surprise Patrol will visit the remaining winners in their classrooms on Friday, Monday, Aug. 26, and Wednesday, Aug. 28. In all, 20 professors will be honored and $100,000 distributed.
For the seventh consecutive year, the W.T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence recognize outstanding teachers and advisers at KU as determined by a seven-member selection committee. The committee's members include students, faculty and KU alumni. The William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee, established a $500,000 fund for the program. The KU Endowment Association has provided $500,000 in matching funds, helping establish the Kemper Awards as a 10-year program.
"KU is known for its exceptional faculty," Hemenway said. "It's an honor to be able to reward some of our best and brightest teachers and advisers in such a fun, exciting and meaningful way."
Mark Gonzales, community bank president in Lawrence, said he and the William T. Kemper Foundation took great pride in helping KU recruit and retain 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 Kemper's 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.
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