Mary Klayder, University Honors Lecturer in English, is the winner of this year's HOPE Award. She was announced the winner of the 2008 HOPE Award (Honor for an Outstanding Progressive Educator) during the third quarter of the KU vs. Texas football game Nov. 15 in Memorial Stadium.

The HOPE Award, established by the Class of 1959, is the only honor given exclusively by students for teaching excellence. Finalists receive a monetary award and recognition on a permanent plaque displayed in the Kansas Union. The other 2008 finalists were: Kerry Benson, lecturer in journalism; Matthew Beuchner, associate professor of molecular biosciences; Thomas Glavinich, associate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering; and David Holmes, professor of psychology.

Nominations were solicited from the senior class by e-mail. Faculty receiving the most nominations were placed on a ballot that was e-mailed to seniors to narrow the field to a group of finalists. Representatives of the Board of Class Officers and its Senior Advisory Board selected the winner through interviews with the finalists.

Klayder, c'72, d'75, g'82, made the transition from KU student to mentor. Remembering her days as an undergraduate and the pressure they sometimes brought, she makes it a point to have a wide-open-door policy at her office in Wescoe Hall. Even when she isn't holding office hours for her students, Klayder makes sure they know she's always thinking of them, even keeping a silk handbag hanging on her door, filled with words of encouragement. She invites those who discover it to take a slip from the bag. Students hoping to find Klayder in her office instead find humorous yet heartfelt notes: "It can't be more than four days until the weekend," and, "Eat two Hershey kisses and call me in the morning."

Click here to read more about a scholarship in Klayder's name, which is funded by a bequest of $100,000 to KU Endowment from the late Bernard "Bud" Hirsch, a beloved associate professor of English.