KU News Release

Update 11/16/09: The winner of this year's HOPE Award is Matthew Buechner

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas seniors have selected six faculty members as finalists for the 2009 HOPE (Honor for an Outstanding Progressive Educator) Award.

The finalists will be honored at a private reception Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Kansas Union. The winner will be announced Saturday, Nov. 14, during the first quarter of the KU-Nebraska football game in Memorial Stadium.

Matthew Buechner, associate professor of molecular biosciences, reacts to winning the 2009 HOPE award as Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Kerry Benson (left), lecturer in journalism, look on.

The finalists are

— Kerry Benson, lecturer in journalism
— Matthew Buechner, associate professor of molecular biosciences
— Mark Gerard Haug, lecturer in business
— Diane Nielsen, associate professor of education
— Misty Schieberle, assistant professor of English
— Kelly Welch, lecturer in business

Established by the Class of 1959, the HOPE Award is the only honor given exclusively by students for teaching excellence. Winners receive a monetary award and recognition on a permanent plaque displayed in the Kansas Union.

Nominations were solicited from the senior class by e-mail. Six faculty receiving the most nominations were interviewed by representatives of the Board of Class Officers and its Senior Advisory Board.

At the reception, John Stolle, president of the Board of Class Officers, will welcome the finalists and guests and ask the awards committee co-chairs, Richard Roderick Patton and Kelly Unger, to provide cameos of each finalist’s teaching career at KU.

In Memorial Stadium, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little will present the award to the 2009 winner. The Board of Class Officers and Lori Reesor, associate vice provost for Student Success, will join the chancellor in the award presentation. Reesor and Clinton Everhart, associate director of admissions and scholarships, are advisers for the Board of Class Officers.

In some years, more than one award has been bestowed. In 1972, three professors each received a HOPE Award: the late John Bremner in journalism, Arno Knapper in business and Elizabeth Schultz in English. In 2007, Craig Martin, professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Edward McBride, lecturer in civil, environmental and architectural engineering, received the award. Three professors have received the award more than once: the late Clark E. Bricker in chemistry received the award four times; the late Charles “Rick” Snyder in psychology, three times; and Martin twice, in 2002 and 2007.

Members of the Board of Class Officers joining the award presentation are listed below by hometown, level in school, major, parents’ names and high school.

ALLEN COUNTY
From Iola 66749
Scott R. Toland, senior in political science and journalism, son of John and Karen Toland; Iola Senior High School

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Olathe 66062
Richard Roderick Patton, senior in communication studies, son of Richard and Lavonne Patton; Olathe East High School

From Overland Park 66206
Kelly M. Unger, junior in pre-physical and health teacher education and sociology, daughter of Dave and Joan Unger; Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

From Overland Park 66210
Joshua Matthew Meler, senior in marketing, son of Thomas and Valerie Meler; Olathe East High School

Megan Anne Watson, freshman in chemistry, daughter of Philip and Teresa Watson; Blue Valley North High School

From Prairie Village 66207
John William Stolle, senior in accounting, son of Calvin and Susan Stolle; Shawnee Mission East High School

From Prairie Village 66208
Anne Theresa Frizzell, senior in English, daughter of Jerome and Kristin Frizzell; Shawnee Mission East High School

From Shawnee 66214
Samir Kashyap, senior in human biology, son of Usha and Bhola Kashyap; Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

SALINE COUNTY
From Salina 67401
Alex Andrew Muninger, junior in strategic communication, son of Mary Ellen and Sheldon Muninger; Ell Saline High School, Brookville

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Derby 67037
Emily Ann Richardson, junior in American studies, daughter of Kenneth and Cynthia Richardson; Derby High School

TEXAS
From Flower Mound 75028
Casey Elizabeth Briner, freshman in pre-elementary education, daughter of Amy and Nick Briner; Edward S. Marcus High School

Brief biographical information for the 2009 finalists is below.

Kerry Benson

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Kerry Benson began teaching in fall 1999 at KU as the Lacy C. Haynes professional-in-residence. In addition to professional experience in advertising, public relations and print journalism, Benson has a bachelor's degree in journalism with an advertising emphasis from California State University-Fresno and a master’s degree in literary journalism from Columbia University. Her specializations include message development, principles of advertising, principles of public relations and journalism and youth culture. In 2004, undergraduates selected Benson as a Center for Teaching Excellence honored teacher. Seniors have selected Benson as a HOPE Award finalist in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2002.

Matthew Buechner

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Matthew Buechner has been nominated regularly by senior biology majors as a favorite teacher since his first year at KU in 1998. He works with students at every level — from high school to postdoctoral — in his laboratory. He specializes in research of epithelial cells that determine the structure of organs and in turn help determine organ function. Buechner received a Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2006 and a J. Michael Young Academic Advisor Award in 2008. He was also a HOPE Award finalist in 2008 and 2004.

Mark Haug

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Mark Gerard Haug has taught business classes at KU since 1995, the same year he received a doctorate in research and evaluation methodology from the University of Colorado. In 1997, he earned a law degree at KU. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees are from Kansas State University. Haug’s teaching focuses on business law and decision making. In 2008, he was named a School of Business teaching fellow, an honor for outstanding teaching by nontenure track faculty members. Haug was also named a 2008 Outstanding Educator by KU’s Mortar Board chapter. He was selected as a HOPE Award finalist in 2005 and 2004.

Diane Nielsen

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Diane Nielsen, a reading specialist focused on children, joined KU’s faculty in 1990. She has received a number of teaching awards including being named the 1999 Gene A. Budig Teaching Professor in the School of Education, a 1998 Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence and a 1994 Silver Anniversary Teaching Award. Since 1993, Nielsen has served as the reading intervention program director for the Kansas Accelerated Literacy Learning Program for first-graders who struggle as beginning readers. Through that program, Nielsen has worked with school districts in Lawrence, Olathe, Council Grove, Basehor-Linwood, Jefferson County and Kansas City, Kan.

Misty Schieberle

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Misty Schieberle began teaching in fall 2008 at KU. She received a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, where she earned awards for research and teaching. Schieberle’s research analyzes the ways that medieval poets represent women as counselors to articulate political advice to powerful figures. Her current research includes texts by Chaucer, John Gower and Christine de Pisan that circulated in late medieval England. Schieberle serves with KU’s University Scholars Program, an academic and mentoring program offered annually for 20 select sophomores.

Kelly Welch

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Kelly Welch has taught at KU since 1997. A 1986 Rhodes scholar, Welch completed a doctorate in finance and economics from the University of Chicago in 1999, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford in 1989 and two bachelor’s degrees in economics from Kansas State University in 1987. In 2008, Welch was appointed a School of Business Teaching Fellow, an honor for outstanding teaching by nontenure track faculty members. He specializes in teaching investment analysis, business valuation and finance.