KU News Release

Two more professors honored with Kemper fellowships

• See video, photos of the winners

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas “surprise patrol” handed out $5,000 Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence to two more professors today.

The Kemper fellowships recognize outstanding teachers and advisers at KU as determined by a seven-member selection committee. Now in their 13th year, the awards are supported by $650,000 in gifts from the William T. Kemper Foundation (Commerce Bank, trustee) and $650,000 in matching funds from KU Endowment.

Winners today are: Lori Messinger, associate professor of social welfare and director of the bachelor’s in social welfare program, and Glen White, professor of applied behavioral science and director of the Research and Training Center on Independent Living.

In all, 20 professors will be honored and $100,000 distributed this year as part of the Kemper tradition. Presentations for Lawrence campus faculty members will continue through Tuesday, Sept. 2. Four professors at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., also will be honored.

The William T. Kemper Foundation was established in 1989 after the death of the Kansas City, Mo., banking executive and civic leader. The foundation supports Midwest communities and concentrates on initiatives in education, health and human services, civic improvements and the arts.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

More about today’s winners:

Lori Messinger
Associate professor of social welfare and director of the bachelor’s in social welfare program
Since joining the KU faculty in 2004, Lori Messinger has extended the reach of the School of Social Welfare to a student constituency who might never have come to KU. Messinger developed the 2+2 BSW Degree Completion Program in collaboration with KU’s Edwards Campus and Kansas City Kansas Community College, which allows community college students to apply for admission to the bachelor’s degree program after they complete their two-year associates degrees. Mary Ellen Kondrat, dean of the School of Social Welfare, describes Messinger’s “passion for good teaching, attention to student needs and creativity in developing courses and programs for students.” Messinger also established a Multicultural Scholars Program in the School of Social Welfare.

Glen White
Director of the Research and Training Center on Independent Living and professor of applied behavioral science
It is hard to separate Glen White’s teaching, research and public outreach efforts. Courses such as Community Leadership or Independent Living and People with Disabilities have a clear connection to outreach. “Professor White’s contributions to KU’s public outreach efforts through his teaching, advising and service are seemingly unparalleled in KU’s behavior, social, cognitive, clinical and applied sciences,” says Edward Morris, professor and chair of applied behavioral sciences. White’s research includes work on how people with disabilities were treated during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina. He also is working with university administrators on the Wounded Warrior program, bringing injured soldiers to KU. Says White: “While I truly value the importance of research, I equally value the importance of applying and translating research so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in the community.”

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.