Kansas State University

Bossmann and Schlup honored for teaching excellence with Segebrecht Award

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Stefan Bossmann, professor of chemistry, and John Schlup, professor of chemical engineering, have been selected to receive the Segebrecht Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award for 2017.

The award was established in honor of Ervin W. Segebrecht, a 1938 graduate of Kansas State University, to recognize professors who provide inspiration and excellence in teaching.

"I'm very happy to receive this award and to be a member of a distinguished selection of colleagues," Bossmann said. "It shows I am deeply appreciated at Kansas State. This department allows us to pursue our passion in research and teaching. It is exactly a place where I'd like to be."

"As an alumnus of Kansas State University, I have been very fortunate that numerous prior recipients of the Segebrecht Award were first my instructors and later my colleagues," Schlup said. "I can remember specific situations where each of them impacted my education and career. This makes being included in this group very special to me."

Bossmann and Schlup will receive $2,000 from the Ervin W. Segebrecht Award Honorium.

"I believe it is important to kindle the spirit of the students so you can get them excited for research," Bossmann said. "Tapping into their spirits of science will help them discover what their interests are. I'm a skeptic, which means we have to talk about everything from different angles. We have to put our theories and predictions to the test."

"Dr. Bossmann has served on the chemistry faculty at Kansas State University since fall 2004 and has made highly valuable contributions to our program through his efforts in teaching, service and research since his arrival," said Daniel Higgins, professor and head of the chemistry department. "He maintains a large research group that is actively involved in cutting-edge research projects in the areas of nanotechnology and nanomedicine, with a special emphasis devoted to early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

"He currently serves as a mentor to a postdoctoral associate, two research associates, several graduate students and many more undergraduates working in his labs. His co-workers, colleagues and friends routinely give positive, glowing comments on his leadership and his drive to make significant advances in the treatment of human diseases."

Bossmann's research interests include cell-mediated delivery of drugs to tumors; image-guided hyperthermia of solid tumors; liquid biopsies for early stage solid tumors, including breast, lung, pancreatic and thyroid cancers; and the synthesis of copper-activated antibiotics. He is also involved in the development of safe materials for artists.

"Our goal at the university should be the education of students," Schlup said. "Even when thinking about research, we should be helping students learn how to think critically and how to pursue questions important to them. Our goal should be that engineers and chemists know more than how to just find the right equations to use. They need to understand the basics and then apply them to solve problems."

"Dr. John Schlup received the 2017 Ervin W. Segebrecht Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to the university," said James Edgar, university distinguished professor and head of the chemical engineering department. "His notable accomplishments include increasing the number and frequency of chemical engineering courses offered by distance education, thereby giving students greater flexibility in their schedules and more educational opportunities; serving as an examiner for the ABET accreditation program, visiting numerous chemical engineering departments nationwide; and serving as an excellent role model and mentor to junior faculty, offering tremendous advice as they have started their careers."

Schlup's research interests have emphasized interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems in chemical engineering and materials science, and have included collaborations with colleagues across campus, including in the departments of agronomy, biochemistry, chemistry, grain science and industry and physics, as well as the College of Veterinary Medicine. The application of spectroscopic and thermal analysis in studying engineering problems has been common theme in much of his work.