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Chancellor Surprises Professors With Kemper Fellowships
The William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching
Excellence were established by the William T. Kemper Foundation
in 1991 with a $500,000 gift to honor 10 outstanding teachers
at the University of Missouri-Columbia each year for five consecutive
years. In both 1995 and 2000, the Kemper Foundation extended the
program for five additional years with gifts of $500,000. This
marks the program’s 14th year, with a total of 140 recipients
to date.
Every spring, the MU chancellor and executives
from Commerce Bank, the trustee for the Kemper Foundation, interrupt
the classes of new Kemper Fellows and surprise each of them with
a $10,000 check to spend as they wish. Last month, faculty kept
a watchful eye out for the award presentation team of Chancellor
Brady Deaton and Commerce Bank’s central Missouri region
Chairman Jim Schatz.
Kemper Fellows have commented on how the awards
enhance faculty morale, reward the important role of teaching
in higher education, and demonstrate the beneficial relationship
between private gifts and the University.
Kemper, a 1926 MU graduate, was a well-known
civic leader in Kansas City. His 52-year career in banking included
top positions in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. The William T.
Kemper Foundation, established in 1989 after his death, is dedicated
to continuing Kemper’s lifelong interest in improving the
human condition and quality of life through education, health
and human services, civic improvements and the arts.
John L. Bullion
Professor of History
College of Arts and Science
Professor John Bullion can make his subject
appealing to almost anyone, even those students who think they
hate history. “When I was his assistant for a small honors
course, the students were so enamored of him that more than half
of the class expressed to me their desire to take another course
with him even though they were not history majors,” says
one former teaching assistant. A graduate recalls, “Countless
times I’d look down and realize I’d stopped taking
notes because I had just sort of been absorbed into the topic
and its presentation.”
Students praise Bullion’s knack for
finding contemporary relevancy in the past. They also appreciate
his ability to challenge their thinking while remaining open and
respectful to their opinions. “He has consistently demonstrated
a unique ability to connect with a wide variety of students in
ways that are both humane and intellectually challenging,”
a colleague says.
Bullion earned his bachelor’s degree
from Stanford University and his master’s and doctoral degrees
from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the MU faculty
in 1978 and served as chair of the history department from 1991
to 1996. He has received the Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty
Achievement Award for Significant and Meritorious Teaching and
the MU Alumni Association’s Faculty-Alumni Award. In 2001,
the Honors College and the Kansas City Alumni Chapter named him
Honors Professor of the Year.
Glenn E. Good
Associate Professor of Educational,
School and Counseling Psychology
College of Education
Students say Glenn Good is an extraordinarily
sensitive, insightful guide through the potentially troublesome
topic of gender issues in counseling and education. “He
challenged us to push the boundaries of our thinking while at
the same time working hard to maintain a safe environment where
we could explore the difficult topics of gender roles, race and
sexuality,” one graduate student recalls.
Students praise Good’s support and mentorship
of them in their intellectual pursuits. He encourages them to
think of themselves as “genuine collaborators in the academic
world,” one graduate student says. Students also admire
Good’s scholarship, particularly on gender issues, and aspire
to follow his example. “Not only does he engage in critical
analysis and investigation as a trailblazer in the discipline
of counseling, but his thorough enjoyment of doing so is both
contagious and inspirational,” a doctoral candidate says.
“He dramatically influenced my development as a professional
psychologist by demonstrating that one can (and should) prioritize
and value scholarly activity while simultaneously holding dear
the qualities that make us human.”
Good earned his bachelor’s degree from
the University of California at Davis, his master’s degree
from the University of Oregon and his doctorate from Ohio State
University. He joined the MU faculty in 1990. Here he has been
named Mentor/Advisor of the Year by the College of Education and
has received several teaching awards, including the Graduate Professional
Council’s Gold Chalk Award for graduate instruction.
Mary Grigsby
Resident Instruction Assistant Professor of Rural
Sociology
College of Agriculture, Food
and Natural Resources
Each year, enrollment in Mary Grigsby’s
Introduction to Rural Sociology course increases steadily, now
numbering nearly 200 students per section in the fall semester.
As one student quickly points out, the class isn't an easy A.
It’s popular because Grigsby teaches it. Students praise
the variety of teaching styles Grigsby employs; the group discussions
she prompts, even in a large lecture class; her buoyantly cheerful
demeanor; and her contagious enthusiasm for her subject. “Her
fervor in watching her students learn and grow is only matched
by her eagerness to learn and grow herself,” one student
says.
Grigsby’s colleagues admire the care
she takes in preparing her curriculum. “She is constantly
reflecting, revising and redoing individual classes, looking for
ways to better engage students and thinking about how to improve
her classes,” several colleagues wrote in a joint statement.
Grigsby’s dedication has not gone unnoticed by her students
either. “She continually strives to provide the best possible
learning environment for her students, never accepting mediocrity,”
one student says. “Teachers guide the future, and as long
as Dr. Grigsby teaches, I feel that our future looks bright.”
Grigsby earned her bachelor’s, master’s
and doctoral degrees from MU and joined the MU faculty in 2000.
She has received numerous teaching awards, including the Provost’s
Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award and her college’s
Outstanding Teaching Award and Golden Apple Master Teacher Award.
In 2005, one of her students received the Mizzou 39 Outstanding
Senior Award and chose to honor Grigsby as her faculty mentor.
Jana M. Hawley
Assistant Professor of Textile
and Apparel Management
College of Human Environmental
Sciences
Jana Hawley’s classroom extends far
beyond the walls of a single building. For example, in fall 2004
she created an independent study class that gave 12 students the
opportunity to work with a not-for-profit organization in planning,
designing and launching a secondhand clothing store. “Being
able to work with Dr. Hawley and more importantly learn from her
on this project has been a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime experience,”
one of those students says. “It is, in my mind, the perfect
way for my college career to come to an end and at the same time
begin my career.”
Students appreciate the ways in which Hawley
incorporates her research and experiences in the textile field
into curriculum. “The textbook becomes a mere supplement,”
one student says. Colleagues and students alike comment upon Hawley’s
ability to motivate and inspire her students. “Dr. Hawley’s
enthusiasm and passion for teaching are unmatched,” one
graduate says. “She taught me finding your passion is the
path to true success.”
Hawley earned her bachelor’s degree
from Fort Hays State University, her master’s degree from
Oklahoma State University and her doctorate from MU. She joined
the MU faculty in 2001 to develop curriculum on electronic commerce
in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management. She has received
numerous teaching awards, including the Human Environmental Sciences
Outstanding Teaching Award from the HES Student Council, the Outstanding
HES Teacher Award from a faculty committee, and the Excellence
in Teaching with Technology award from ET@MO (Educational Technologies
at Missouri).
Richard L. Meadows
Clinical Associate Professor of Veterinary
Medicine and Surgery
College of Veterinary Medicine
Students appreciate Meadows’ perspective
as a veterinarian who spent years in private practice. “Dr.
Meadows introduces students to the real world of daily veterinary
practice and challenges them to put theory into practice,”
a recent graduate says. “His down-to-earth teaching style
and unyielding focus on common-sense medicine are a breath of
fresh air in the sometimes heady atmosphere of the ivory tower.”
Meadows has earned a reputation as a particularly
dedicated teacher. “He is willing to discuss or explain
any topic at length, no matter how simple it may seem, to any
student at any time,” says one student. “He always
makes time for his students and does his best to help in any way
he can.” Another student describes Meadows this way: “He
not only teaches students to be doctors, but he teaches doctors
to be people”.
Meadows earned his first bachelor’s
degree from West Texas State University and a second bachelor’s
degree and his degree in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M
University. He joined the MU faculty in 1999 and has received
the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Carl J. Norden Distinguished
Teaching Award; the college’s Aesculapius Teaching Award,
voted on by students; and the Gold Chalk Award from the Professional
Graduate Council. Meadows has taken advantage of funding opportunities
for technology and facilities in the veterinary hospital. He recently
received a major award for a new veterinary dentistry laboratory
to train students and licensed veterinarians to treat dental disease
in dogs and cats.
Joshua J. Millspaugh
Assistant Professor of Fisheries
and Wildlife Sciences
College of Agriculture, Food
and Natural Resources
Joshua Millspaugh and a colleague have been
invited to give presentations nationwide on their inventive approaches
to problem-based learning, but the best testament to Millspaugh’s
teaching is his students' high regard. “Dr. Millspaugh commands
the utmost respect from students”, a recent graduate says.
“His high expectations challenge students to work to their
potential, producing high-quality, professional-level research
and reports. Over and over, they rise to meet his challenge because
they value his opinion.”
Demonstrating the applications of his subjects
is a cornerstone of Millspaugh's teaching. A colleague marvels
how “students with 'math phobia' going into his courses
emerge with confidence that they can use these quantitative tools
and concepts in the real world.” Millspaugh recently created
a new graduate level course, a consulting project in which students
will present their findings to the National Park Service. “The
students are accountable for the products,” says one of
Millspaugh’s former teaching assistants, “and the
process of creating them is where learning occurs.”
Millspaugh earned his bachelor’s degree
from the State University of New York College of Environmental
Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), his master’s degree from
South Dakota State University and his doctorate from the University
of Washington, where he also completed his postdoctoral study.
He joined the MU faculty in 1999 and has received numerous teaching
awards, including the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty
Teaching Award and the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence
from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Dorina I. Mitrea
Associate Professor of Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
Dorina Mitrea has great talent for helping
students comprehend and even enjoy calculus and other high-level
math. “Never have I had a teacher who made such difficult
material easy to understand”, one student says. Another
student praises her “marvelous ability to restate a problem/issue
in a different way (or graphically) to clarify the point.”
One of her colleagues says that, as a woman, Mitrea is an important
role model for female students in the field of mathematics. One
such student whom Mitrea has mentored says: “She has deepened
my desire to study mathematics in depth. The ability to get students
to think not just about homework or test questions but about material
not required for the course is the mark of a good professor.”
Mitrea earned her master's degree from the
University of Bucharest and her doctorate from the University
of Minnesota. She joined the MU faculty in 1996 and has received
the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award.
In 2001, the National Science Foundation awarded her and several
others a $1.19 million grant to develop courses and recruitment
models for middle school math teachers. As part of this project,
she and a colleague created a pioneering new calculus course for
middle school teachers and co-authored Calculus Connections: Connecting
Middle School and College Mathematics for the class. Mitrea also
coached a team of sixth and seventh graders for MATHCOUNTS, a
national mathematics competition, in 2003. After her team placed
first in the state, she coached the Missouri all-star team to
second place at the national level.
Amanda J. Rose
Assistant Professor of Psychological
Sciences
College of Arts and Science
Amanda Rose teaches child psychology in a
cavernous hall filled with more than 300 students, but her passion
for her subject and creative use of class time help keep students
focused and interested. “One of the student comments I have
heard repeatedly is that she is very enthusiastic about the material
she is teaching, and her enthusiasm makes students want to learn,”
says one colleague. “I have talked with many students who
had such a great experience in her course that they changed their
major to psychology.”
As director of the department’s Peer
Relationships Lab, Rose regularly involves graduate students and
an unusually large number of undergraduates in research on child
development. She has earned a reputation as a dedicated mentor.
“She excels at the delicate balance of providing assistance
while also fostering independent scholarship”, says a graduate
student whom Rose advises. One student describes Rose as “quite
possibly the most open, supportive teacher I’ve ever had.”
Another says, “I am grateful to Dr. Rose for teaching me
not just the mechanics of research but also for giving me the
confidence to do it as well.”
Rose earned her bachelor’s establish
the new developmental psychology training area. She has received
several awards for teaching, including the Provost’s Junior
Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award and her department’s
Robert S. Daniel Junior Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award.
Hani A. Salim
Assistant Professor of Civil
and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
In the past six years, Hani Salim has served
as a mentor for more than 25 undergraduate students working on
engineering research. One former student recalls working with
Salim to help establish the National Center for Explosion Resistant
Design at MU in 1997. “The formation of this research center,”
he says, “was a valuable learning experience for me and
could never have been accomplished without Dr. Salim’s motivation
and hard work.”
The same student recalls Salim's classroom
teaching with just as much admiration: “It was apparent
by his class preparation and unselfish out-of-class instruction
that Dr. Salim strived to ensure that his students did not merely
understand the engineering principles being taught but that they
realized the real-life applications of these principles.”
Another student pays Salim one of the highest compliments an overworked
college student can offer: “The class was very early in
the morning, but Dr. Salim made it easy to stay awake and want
to learn.”
Salim earned his bachelor's degree from Jordan
University of Science and Technology and his master’s and
doctoral degrees from West Virginia University. He joined the
MU faculty in 1999, and he has since received numerous teaching
awards, including the College of Engineering Award for Teaching
Excellence. He has received the teaching award from the graduating
seniors of his department more times than anyone else on the faculty.
John T. Schneller
Assistant Professor of News-Editorial
School of Journalism
In the frenzied environment
of the Columbia Missourian newsroom, metro editor John Schneller
works with student after student on reporting, writing and rewriting.
“He always pushes you and sets high expectations,”
one student says. “John can see through a muddle of information
and hit on the real backbone or issue of a story,” says
another. A graduate recalls: “Schneller is equally willing
to break down a city council agenda for a student who has never
seen one or line-edit the most advanced writer's investigative
project. He can find any student's strength and any story's weakness.”
One colleague credits Schneller with fostering Missourian reporting
that is “richer, more nuanced and more sophisticated than
ever before.”
When journalism faculty redesigned the
seminar taken by entering master's students to better balance
theory with its relationship to journalistic practice, Schneller
began co-teaching the class. Noting that Schneller has now become
a theoretical scholar in his own right, one co-teacher says: “John
Schneller is a teacher of practice who has become a teacher of
theory and practice. Trust me, this is very, very rare in journalism.”
Schneller earned his bachelor's degree
from MU. He joined the MU faculty in 2000 after more than 20 years
as a reporter and editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune. He has
edited Missourian student work that has received awards from the
Missouri Press Foundation and the Investigative Reporters and
Editors national organization, as well as the Hearst Journalism
Award for in-depth rewriting.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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