By Jim Krupa, a University of Kentucky professor of biology, recently was honored with the National Center for Science Education Friend of Darwin Award.
The center promotes and defends accurate and effective science education. Staff members work with teachers, parents, scientists and concerned citizens at the local, state and national levels to ensure that topics including evolution and climate change are taught accurately, honestly and confidently.
The NCSE Friend of Darwin Award is conferred annually to outstanding educators whose efforts support NCSE and advance its goals.
“I find the National Center of Science Education’s efforts to battle science illiteracy in the U.S. truly heroic,” Krupa said. “I am touched that NCSE feels I contributed enough to this effort to receive this award.”
Krupa earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from the University of Nebraska Omaha and received his doctoral degree in zoology from the University of Oklahoma in 1987. After earning his doctorate, Krupa came to UK as a postdoctoral researcher in 1989.
Krupa has taught more than 100 class sections teaching almost 25,000 students. In 2018, he was honored with UK’s Department of Biology's Most Influential Faculty Award, and in 2016, he received the College of Arts and Sciences' Outstanding Teaching Award.
The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity, and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion three years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. UK has been judged a “Great College to Work for" two years in a row, and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers." We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for four straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.