MU Professor Awarded 2010 Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence

April 6th, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton and Commerce Bank Chairman Jim Schatz of Commerce Bank today awarded one of the 2010 William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence to Srinath Gopalakrishna, the David and Judy O’Neal MBA Professor and professor of marketing in the Trulaske College of Business.

Deaton, Schatz and a group of professors, administrators and staff paid a surprise visit to Gopalakrishna’s classroom to honor him with the Fellowship, which includes a $10,000 award. Fellowships are awarded to five outstanding teachers at the University of Missouri each year.

The William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence were established in 1991 with a $500,000 gift. Kemper, a 1926 MU graduate, was a well-known civic leader in Kansas City until his death in 1989. His 52-year career in banking included top positions at banks in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Commerce Bank manages the trust fund.

EDITOR’S NOTE:                                              

Please see attached biography for details about Gopalakrishna.

Srinath Gopalakrishna, Professor of Marketing

Srinath Gopalakrishna views preparing for lectures like training for a race, which involves combining different strengths, strategies and training methods to perform best in an unpredictable atmosphere. He teaches marketing in undergraduate, master’s and doctorate programs in the Robert. J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. Gopalakrishna also teaches a doctoral seminar and is a member of dissertation committees and the college’s MBA Policy Committee.

“Gopalakrishna introduces each marketing concept and lesson as if it is a fantastic new discovery for mankind because it is, in fact, a new discovery for the students he is teaching,” said Eric Schupp, a former student. “His empathy and ability to understand the classroom learning experience from the students’ perspectives mean that he truly allows himself to experience these discoveries with us.”

Bringing an enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter to the classroom, he challenges students to think “outside of the box” and succeeds in making his lectures effective, informative and interesting.  His students consistently rate him as an effective professor at teaching the fundamentals of marketing as well as new techniques for students to use as the field evolves.  

“The most significant separation between Gopalaskrishna and other professors is his focus on applying classroom theories toward solving real-world problems,” said Timothy McCarty, a former student. “He guides classroom discussions in a way that extracts ideas from everyone, even the most shy and timid students, creating a thorough collaboration of ideas that compound and build off one another to reach the core idea of the day’s lesson.”

His teaching earned him the David and Judy O’Neal MBA Professorship in 2008, the college’s O’Brien Award for Teaching Excellence in 2005 and selection for the Department of Marketing’s annual Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in 2009.

Gopalakrishna received his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Management and his doctorate from Purdue University.