2018-19 Provost Lecture Series

Preparing Students for Professional Success: Cross-Disciplinary Lessons

Tuesday, April 9, 2019
10:30 a.m.
Tadtman Boardroom
K-State Alumni Center

Keith Hohn

William H. Honstead Professor of Chemical Engineering
2018-2019 Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars

2019 Coffman Chair Lecture Video

Biographical Sketch

Keith Hohn is the William H. Honstead Professor of Chemical Engineering at K-State, where he has taught for the last 19 years. His scholarly work focuses on heterogeneous catalysis (the study of solid materials that speed up chemical reactions). He applies catalysis in applications related to energy, including hydrogen generation and biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals. Dr. Hohn has been a strong proponent of undergraduate research. He served as co-PI for a NSF-funded research experiences for undergraduate (REU) site on sustainable energy for nine years. He has also published and presented in the area of engineering education on topics such as hands-on experiments for freshman engineering students, learning communities, sustainability education, and teaming with industry to teach chemical process safety. He has won several teaching awards, including the Charles H. Scholer Faculty Award, James L. Hollis Memorial Award, and Myers-Alford Memorial Teaching Award, and is honored to serve as the 2018-2019 Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars.

Abstract

An important objective for many disciplines at K-State is to impart students with the specific skills and viewpoints needed to succeed in their chosen profession. Each discipline has carefully considered how their courses can best prepare students for professional life and has come up with strategies for ensuring their students practice the necessary skills. While in some cases the techniques used by a particular discipline are unique to that discipline, it is likely that there are commonalities between the approaches. It may be possible for educators in chemical engineering, for example, to learn from faculty in journalism on how to prepare students for the professional world. During his April 9th, 2019 Coffman Lecture, Dr. Hohn will describe his efforts to catalogue the ways in which faculty impart the skills their students need to succeed as professionals. He will describe both commonalities and differences, with specific attention to unique ways of training students that may be transferable between disciplines.