Friends University faculty receive teaching awards

Friends University congratulates the recipients of the W.A. Young Excellence in Teaching Award and the Jan LaFever Award for Adjunct Teaching. The awards were presented at the University’s Commencement ceremony May 12.

Mark BartelDr. Mark Bartel, associate professor of music and director of choral music in the College of Business, Arts, Sciences and Education, received the W.A. Young Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Bartel embodies the qualities of faith and spirituality that identify the Friends experience. He is a strong supporter of his students, listening when they are hurting or in need, and continuing to ask how they are doing, even long after others have forgotten. Among other accomplishments, Dr. Bartel is the conductor of the Friends University Singing Quakers and the Wichita Chamber Chorale, and he currently serves as the president of the Kansas Choral Directors Association.

Ken SpurgeonKen Spurgeon, social and behavioral sciences adjunct faculty member in the College of Business, Arts, Sciences and Education, received the Jan LaFever Award for Adjunct Teaching. This award honors an individual who has taught for at least one year and shown extraordinary service to Friends University as a member of our adjunct faculty. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, Spurgeon speaks a language students can relate to, but also never one that shortchanges the seriousness and importance of the subject matter. Spurgeon is an author, director, filmmaker and the founder of Lone Chimney Films Inc., a not-for-profit documentary film company dedicated to films about the Midwest.

Faculty, students and staff nominate full-time and adjunct faculty members for these awards.

Friends University, a Christian University of Quaker heritage, equips students to honor God and serve others by integrating their intellectual, spiritual and professional lives.