Jan Wagner Wins College Halliburton Award as Outstanding Instructor for the 2008-2009 School Year

Supported by a grant from the Halliburton Foundation, each year the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology selects the top faculty member in each of four categories. This year ChE Professor Jan Wagner was selected as the “Outstanding Teacher” within the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology at OK State.

Recently, Jan has been teaching two of the junior-level courses and, with Rob Whiteley, co-teaching the two senior-level plant design courses. Jan and Rob have each received teaching recognitions, and lately Jan’s included the 2004 Regents Distinguished Teaching Award for CEAT. The Wagner-Whiteley instruction in design has led to numerous student team awards within the AIChE National Student Design Competition, including: 1st place overall in 1995, 1997, 2004, 2005, and 2008 (tie); Honorable Mention in 2007; and the AIChE Safety and Health Division, Ted Ventrone Award for Best Application of Principles of Inherent Safety in 2002, 2005, and 2008.

Dr. Wagner enjoys kayaking, and many other outdoor water activities. He is shown here on the Spring River in Arkansas.

School Head Khaled Gasem writes, “Dr. Wagner is a quintessential practice-oriented engineering professor. In his teaching of engineering as a profession, he combines rigorous first-principle analyses with state-of-the-art modeling and seasoned engineering judgment to develop viable processes and products. His students quickly appreciate that engineering practice is contextual, where one is often dealing with inadequate information. They also realize that to meet the demands of their profession, engineers must seek the highest level of performance in all their endeavors.”

Recognitions for excellence in Jan’s role as a professor have come throughout his career. In 1981 he was named AIChE National Student Chapter Counselor of the Year, a shared honor with one other person, John O’Connell, a recent ConocoPhillips Lecturer at OK State. In 1985 Dr. Wagner received the Halliburton Education Foundation Outstanding Engineering Faculty award for the college.