Michelle Magnussen Wins Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award
McKendree University Theatre Professor is in the Spotlight
(LEBANON, Ill., November 23, 2015) - A theatre professor known for her creativity
and dedication to McKendree University students has received a 2015 Emerson Excellence
in Teaching Award.
Michelle Magnussen, associate professor of theatre, is among 102 St. Louis metropolitan
area educators—from kindergarten teachers to college professors—who are examples of
excellence in their field. Recipients of the annual award are chosen by their institutions’
chief administrators.
Magnussen has served as a full-time faculty member and director of theatre at McKendree
University since 2006. As part of Global Awareness Week on campus in March, she and
her students wrote and performed an original piece called the McKendree “Share Your
Story” Project. In addition to her work in the classroom and on stage, she has also
led a study abroad trip to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and participated
in a faculty-student trip to Technos College in Japan. Magnussen often takes students
to theatre productions in St. Louis so they can see on stage the techniques and acting
skills they have learned in class.
She participates in the university’s “Teaching for Excellence” workshops each semester;
coordinates the student performing arts activities for its annual Academic Excellence
Celebration; and advises the campus chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, the national honorary
theater fraternity.
The Lebanon, Ill., resident earned a master of fine arts degree from the University
of Louisville and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and theatre from Carthage
College.
In addition to Magnussen, other McKendree graduates or former students were among
the St. Louis area educators who received 2015 Excellence in Teaching Awardees on
Nov. 22:
- Rebecca (Chaput) Claxton ’06, MAED ’08, of O’Fallon, a kindergarten teacher at Illini Elementary School in Fairview Heights, Ill.
- Teri (Schmidt) Range, of O’Fallon, Ill., who teaches honors precalculus, trigonometry and advanced precalculus at O’Fallon Township High School.
Michelle Magnussen, associate professor of theatre at McKendree University,
is a 2015 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award winner.
-McK-
