An instructor at UK for 24 years, Kimberly Ward Anderson, Ph.D. believes that “an outstanding teacher goes beyond the classroom setting and provides positive mentoring in many different ways. In my years of teaching at UK, I have not only taught graduate and undergraduate courses, but have also engaged students in learning by providing opportunities for them to participate in independent research activities. My overall goal as an instructor is to engage each and every student in active learning and to instill the confidence that they need to function as independent engineers and scientists.”
In April, Dr. Anderson was selected as the 2011 recipient of the Henry Mason Lutes Award for Excellence in Teaching. The annual award was established to recognize and reward outstanding teaching accomplishments. Recipients of the award are expected not only to be outstanding teachers, but individuals who are, or can become, role models for other faculty. Recipients must also have exhibited excellent teaching over a sustained period of time, have exhibited imagination and exceptional dedication to student needs, and demonstrated the ability to challenge and inspire students.
In letters of support, former undergraduate student Kevin Baldridge wrote “Dr. Anderson is clear about what she expects and provides the instruction necessary to understand the importance of assignments. In addition, the assignments she gives are imaginative in their real world applicability.” Another former student, Jenna Shapiro, wrote, “As a senior in chemical engineering, I have had the privilege of having Dr. Anderson as a teacher for three of my undergraduate courses. Additionally, she has served as my research advisor since I began research during my senior year of high school. Because of my initial research experiences in Dr. Anderson’s lab, I became a chemical engineering major. I credit much of my success in my undergraduate career to her guidance and dedication, both as a teacher and advisor.”
A highly decorated professional, Dr. Anderson was awarded the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1991, the Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education from the University of Kentucky in 1991, the National Institutes of Health Shannon Award in 1992, the Gill Eminent Professorship at UK in 2002, the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award for promoting women students in the UK College of Engineering, the UK Research Professorship Award in 2010 and was named the Outstanding Teacher in Chemical Engineering in 2011.
Dr. Anderson’s areas of research specialization include rheological properties of cell membranes including adhesion and deformation properties, biofunctional membranes and enzyme immobilization, biocompatible surfaces, nanocomposite hydrogels, bioluminescence, cell-based biosensors, biofouling of surfaces and cancer detection and treatment. She earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University and received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering/biomedical engineering, as well as a Postdoctorate Fellow in bioengineering, from Carnegie Mellon University.