Mizzou faculty members love teaching — which means they lead geology trips to the Grand Canyon and supervise student research; they advise students; they direct campus plays; and they work with students to offer outreach to the community, all the while remaining leaders in their fields. It’s no wonder that Mizzou’s faculty members have won many prestigious awards, including Fulbright Scholars, Pulitzer Prizes, National Science Foundation Career Awards and distinguished national awards in music composition.

But perhaps the most important award they win is the Kemper Fellowship, which honors excellence in teaching. Our Kemper Fellows inspire students to take more classes in subjects they used to dislike: they take difficult math material and make it easy to comprehend; they motivate students to set higher goals; they bring subjects to life; and more. Meet our most recent Kemper fellows …

Just how innovative are our teachers? Jana M. Hawley, assistant professor of Textile and Apparel Management (and a 2005 Kemper Fellow), had one of her classes design and launch a secondhand clothing store; assistant professor of Agriculture Systems Management Brian Adams has had his students build small working tractors out of LEGO® bricks; English professor Elaine Lawless has had students stage an Oprah show as a way to explore the themes and characters in The Color Purple.

Great teaching, great expertise, great spirit ... but it gets better: About three-quarters of all freshman classes have fewer than 30 students, which means you'll get to know your faculty, you'll get to interact closely with peers, you'll receive personalized attention and you'll want to come back for more.