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LAWRENCE -- The second day of classes at the University of Kansas brought with it more unexpected visits from the Kemper Awards "Surprise Patrol."
The patrol, led by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost David Shulenburger, handed out a total of $25,000 and five more Kemper Awards to KU professors in recognition of their outstanding teaching and advising.
Including the seven awards the patrol announced yesterday, 12 KU professors have received a total of $60,000 so far. In all, 20 professors will be honored and $100,000 distributed with Kemper Awards this year.
The Surprise Patrol will hand out the individual $5,000 Kemper Awards to four more unsuspecting professors Monday, Aug. 26.
The W.T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence recognize outstanding teachers and advisers at KU as determined by a seven-member selection committee. Now in the seventh year of a 10-year program, the awards were established by a $500,000 fund from the William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee, and $500,000 in matching funds from the KU Endowment Association.
Today's winners are:
Robert Carlson, professor of chemistry
For 39 years, Bob Carlson has pushed his students to master the material not by mere memorization but by analyzing, questioning and applying the concepts. Former students attest to Carlson's helpfulness as a mentor and a teacher, and their placement in academia and the private sector indicates his success in these roles.
Caroline Jewers, associate professor in French and Italian
Caroline Jewers, specializing in medieval and Renaissance literature and culture, prides herself on giving each student as much personal attention as that student needs or seeks. Jewer's incredible level of scholarly expertise is conveyed in each meticulously prepared lecture. Students call her a gifted teacher who leads them on an adventure through time with her wit, intellect, warmth and insight.
Paul Laird, associate professor of musicology
Paul Laird is overwhelmingly heralded in student evaluations as "outstanding" and "the best professor I've ever had!" His passion for the subject matter ignites the same enthusiasm in his classroom, creating an intense learning experience tempered with both laughter and hard work. Laird's abilities as a performer and his willingness to lecture for and support the local community strengthen his ability to instruct students who are taking notes as well as those who play them.
Karen Nordheden, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering
Karen Nordheden's training is in physics and electrical engineering rather than in chemical engineering, yet her enthusiastic teaching style, preparedness and availability outside the classroom prompts many students to go so far as to call her rigorous chemical and petroleum engineering introduction class fun. Nordheden is special in her dedication to offering students the opportunity to learn by being undergraduate research assistants for her in her work on plasma etching.
Lloyd L. Sponholtz, associate professor of history
Lloyd Sponholtz has given KU 33 years of uncompromising excellence in the classroom. His students say his classes "continually ask acute questions that impel students to think critically." His excitement about the subject matter gives students the energy they need to raise the quality of their work to Sponholtz's challenging standards. He puts in a great deal of time to help students develop their writing, and he spends countless hours guiding and advising them in his role as mentor.
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