Two faculty members have received department awards for excellence.
Krista Danielson, instructor in English, has received the department’s annual Excellence Award for Term Instructors.
A K-State graduate with a Masters in English, Krista excels as an instructor in professional, technical, and creative writing. Krista’s teaching philosophy describes her pedagogical strategy for this success: “1) teaching and learning happen in the context of a relationship between teacher, student, and subject material, 2) learning is a constructivist process that requires courage and reflection, and 3) teaching is an act of care.”
Students and colleagues both praise Krista’s award-winning teaching. “Great teachers are defined by the strength of their connection and impact they leave on their students,” explains one student in ENGL 415 “Written Communication for Engineers,” as he describes Krista’s “unbridled enthusiasm” for his project on the safety of aspartame: “This was the first and only time in a class where a teacher has ever told me that they were thrilled to read something of mine.”
For Anne Phillips, professor and associate department head of English, Krista’s attention to this one student is emblematic of her pedagogy. “Krista champions and encourages every single student,” Anne writes, fostering a community of learning where students support each other as they achieve course outcomes and professional goals.
Of particular note is Krista’s “low distraction” classroom where laptops, tablets, phones, and AI are not allowed unless there is documented need. This environment asks students to set aside technology to practice their old school writing skills. Krista also introduces a leadership activity early in the semester to help students identify their strengths before they work together in groups and, to help students ready themselves and focus on the work at hand, incorporates stretching and other yoga techniques during class. As Krista explains in her teaching philosophy, “These practices help with executive functioning, memory, and learning.”
Wendy Matlock, professor of English, has received the Donnelly Faculty Award in English for 2026-2028.
The award, created by donors Michelle Munson and Serban Simu, Berkeley, California, honors English professor emeritus Dr. Michael Donnelly and the impact he had on numerous students. Munson graduated from K-State in 1996 with degrees in physics and electrical engineering. An English class taught by Michael Donnelly greatly influenced her, leading to this gift.
The Donnelly award is given to an outstanding faculty member in the Department of English in recognition of their contributions to teaching, research/creative activity, and service. Each recipient holds the award for two years and receives at least $16,000 in professional development monies across the two years. A new recipient is named each year, allowing the award to be held by two faculty members at a time. An interdisciplinary committee of faculty and alumni select each year’s recipient.
Wendy joins eleven previous winners of the Donnelly Award: Greg Eiselein (2015-2017), Don Hedrick (2016-2018), Elizabeth Dodd (2017-2019), Michele Janette (2018-2020), Phillip Marzluf (2019-2021), Anne Phillips (2020-2022), Anne Longmuir (2021-2023), Lisa Tatonetti (2022-2024), Traci Brimhall (2023-2025); Philip Nel (2024-2026); and Abby Knoblauch (2025-2027).
In her letter of application for the award, Wendy explains how Michael Donnelly’s legacy “reminds me to think carefully about how we homo sapiens affect the world (and vice versa) and to recognize with humility the assumptions we have about other people, whether that’s someone who died 1,000 years ago, someone who lives on the other side of the world, or someone sitting at the next desk.” By centering the human, Wendy asks students use all their expertise to enrich their learning – they act, draw, cook, design games, engage in Socratic seminars, and translate texts in order to understand and appreciate the past alongside their own present.
In their course evaluations, Wendy’s students praise this pedagogy. A student in the non-major “Great Books” course explains how “Dr. Matlock has helped me fall in love with reading books all over again and has changed and improved my view on how to read,” while a student from “Introduction to Literary Studies,” required of all English majors and minors, remarked that Wendy’s “compassion and attentiveness made the classroom a welcoming place where learning felt both meaningful and joyful.”
The 2026-2028 Donnelly Award follows on earlier recognitions for Wendy, including the College of Arts and Sciences Gaches Lifetime Teaching Award (2026), the University’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2012), and the department’s award for Excellence in Advising (2014) and its Student Association of Graduates of English (SAGE) Award for Distinguished Teaching (2014, 2026), among other honors.
In addition to her excellence in teaching and service for the university and the profession, Wendy has contributed ground-breaking scholarship through her research on literature written in England between 1200 and 1500 and on modern medievalisms. Alongside her frequent international presentations and numerous peer-reviewed articles and essays, Wendy’s next project, a book titled Debating Households in Middle English Poetry, is under contract with the Ohio State University Press for their innovative series “Interventions: New Studies in Medieval Culture.”
Congratulations to Krista and Wendy!
— Karin Westman, Department Head
K-State English 
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