When Karl Gude was working as the Director of Infographics for Newsweek and the Associated Press, he never thought to try his hand at teaching. But when ComArtSci’s School of Journalism called, his life suddenly changed. Eleven years later, Gude has won the 2016-2017 award for Quality in Undergraduate Teaching from the MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan— basically, Teacher of the Year.
Creative Excellence
Gude was presented with the honor last week at the university-wide faculty awards ceremony. He shares the award with professor Patrick Dillon, Ph.D,. from the Department of Physiology.
“I saw Professor Dillon speak at the award ceremony and he was so engaging I immediately wished I could be one of his students,” said Gude. “I feel this way about many of my teaching colleagues.”
Gude is known for his creativity, specifically in his Creative Processes class, which enrolls over 400 students each semester. He’s also the director of Media Sandbox, where he takes students with different majors and skills, puts them into teams and sends them off to help professionals solve their communications challenges.
Gude was nominated by Lucinda Davenport, director and professor in the School of Journalism. She admires how Karl is passionate about every one of his students and how he goes out of his way to be both inclusive and imaginative with his teaching methods.
“Karl is among a great cohort of faculty in the School of Journalism and the College of Communication Arts and Sciences who try hard, and succeed, in their efforts to help students think outside the box and achieve their dream job,” said Davenport. “He continually strives to experiment with new ways to teach students and makes course content directly relevant to their lives and futures.”