March 4, 2025
Contact: Eric Stann, 573-882-3346, StannE@missouri.edu
Photos by Abbie Lankitus
University of Missouri President Mun Choi; Matthew Martens, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs; and Steve Sowers, chief executive officer of Commerce Bank鈥檚 Missouri community markets, awarded a 2025 William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence to Pamela Brown today. Brown is an associate professor in the College of Arts and Science and an adjunct associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and School of Medicine.
Jamie Arndt, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, joined other leaders in surprising Brown by honoring her with the fellowship, which includes a $15,000 stipend. Kemper Fellowships are awarded to five outstanding teachers at the University of Missouri each year.
The William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence were established in 1991 with a $500,000 gift. Kemper, a 1926 91制片厂Prograduate, was a well-known civic leader in Kansas City until his death in 1989. His 52-year career in banking included top positions at banks in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Commerce Bank manages the trust fund.
Brown biography
An internationally recognized expert in microbiology, Pamela Brown keeps student engagement at the heart of her teaching philosophy.
Embodying the Missouri Method 鈥� Mizzou鈥檚 approach to education through hands-on learning 鈥� Brown was a national early adopter of a novel teaching format known as Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), which addresses questions with unknown outcomes that are of interest to external stakeholders through experiential learning.
鈥淧am recognized early in her career the power that bacteria and the relative ease with which they can be manipulated in the laboratory even by novice experimentalists have to revolutionize young scientists鈥� understanding of the natural world,鈥� David Schulz, director of Mizzou鈥檚 Division of Biological Sciences, wrote in his nomination of Brown. 鈥淧am also saw in this system the potential to provide the opportunity to conduct inquiry-based approaches to learning and therefore has spent her career thus far transforming how we teach biology in the laboratory classroom.鈥�
Brown is known for her compassion and supportiveness of students in her Intro to STEM Research honors course and microbiology laboratory.
鈥淒ay after day I watch Dr. Brown go above and beyond in the classroom, in her lab and with her students,鈥� Isabella Hall, who took this course, wrote in a letter supporting the nomination. 鈥淭hroughout the course, Dr. Brown continuously encouraged the students to become involved in undergraduate research and provided us with many resources and outlets to embrace research. Dr. Brown
holds a special place in my heart because that was the first time I decided that I wanted to pursue research as a career, which changed my life forever. Without her help, I would not be where I am today.鈥�
In addition to her teaching duties, Brown serves as the associate director of undergraduate research and experiential learning in the Division of Biological Sciences, a faculty fellow for STEM in the Honors College, and a mentor to postdoctoral trainees and doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students.
鈥淭he standard that Dr. Brown establishes in her lab and the care she has for her students is unmatched,鈥� graduate students in her lab wrote in support of her nomination. 鈥淒r. Brown鈥檚 consistent drive to do the best for her students and help them reach their own personal goals distinguishes her from the typical professor and mentor.鈥�
Brown blurs the boundaries between cutting-edge research and science teaching in a way that highlights active learning experiences.
鈥�She designed and brought to life a microbiology-based research project that gets students excited about research in the STEM fields,鈥� Amanda Herrera, an assistant teaching professor in the Honors College who co-taught a course with Brown, wrote in support of the nomination. 鈥淧am is very passionate about helping students get started in undergraduate research.鈥�
This is one of numerous awards recognizing Brown鈥檚 achievements. She received the College of Arts and Science Associate Professor of the Year Award in 2024, the Maxine Christopher Schutz Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2023 and the Mentor of the Year Award from Mizzou鈥檚 Office of Undergraduate Research in 2021.
Brown earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of Connecticut in 2000 and a doctoral degree in microbiology from the University of Georgia in 2006.
