Professors receive Kemper fellowships

Each selected professor receives $10,000 in addition to the honor.

By Juana Summers

Published April 14, 2009

When Mary Beth Marrs was an MU student, she watched as a professor was awarded the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

"I never thought it would happen to me," Marrs said.

Last week, Marrs, now a management professor in the Trulaske College of Business, received a Kemper fellowship of her own, as one of four recipients of this year's Kemper Fellowship program.

Also honored were communications professor Mitchell McKinney, agricultural education professor Robert Torres, clinical professor of physical therapy Kyle Gibson and journalism professor Jennifer Rowe.

Since 1991, the Kemper fellowships have been awarded each year to a group of five exceptional professors. The award, which honors 1926 MU graduate William T. Kemper, comes with a $10,000 cash prize.

Even though this part of the Kemper fellowships is well known, the selection of the newest fellows is something of a secret, MU spokesman Jeffrey Beeson said.

Professors are nominated for the award, and then they submit an application packet including letters of recommendation from faculty members and students to the provost's office. From there, a committee reviews all applications and decides each year's recipients.

"The members of the committee are kept secret," Beeson said. "It's not a popularity contest."

Beeson said part of the surprise of the Kemper fellowships is the way they're revealed. Chancellor Brady Deaton, a representative from Commerce Bank -- the financial institution that holds the trust -- and members of the press surprise the new Kemper fellowship recipients as they teach.

For the past four years, five MU faculty members received the award. In previous years, 10 recipients were named each year.

In a previous Maneater report, MU spokesman Christian Basi said the number of awards was cut due to a lack of funding.

Marrs described her reaction to the award as shocked.

"It was very difficult to teach after that," she said.

Marrs said the most rewarding part of interacting with students is watching them grow and develop while they explore their passions.

"If it's something you're passionate about, everything else will fall into place," Marrs said.

She attributes her continued involvement with students to those she teaches each semester who she said are just like her own kids.

"Graduation day is the toughest day of my job," she said. "I have to watch them start a new chapter of their lives."