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Beloved Associate History Professor Honored with United Methodist Exemplary Teacher of the Year Award

by Tina Napper

Lebanon, IL (03/19/2025) — Dr. Lauren K. Thompson, an associate professor of history at McKendree University, was recently honored with the 2025 United Methodist Exemplary Teacher of the Year Award. This award was given by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Selection criteria include excellence in teaching, civility and concern for students and colleagues, commitment to value-centered education and service to students, the institution and the community.

A resident of Saint Louis, Dr. Thompson has been serving McKendree since 2017 and is regarded as a first-rate instructor who is well-known, well-respected, and well-liked. She is a vital part of the McKendree community and is an excellent role model for students as she awakens them to new perspectives on American history. Her students discover that what they learned in high school is only one way of viewing the world.

"Dr. Thompson is skilled in fostering empathy, and as such has been a beacon for students from under-represented groups," said Dr. Alan Alewine, associate provost at McKendree University. "She has the capacity for honest self-reflection, which is vital for any solid instructor. But this trait will help her evolve into an inspirational instructor. She possesses several avenues to success and also the 'Google Maps' spirit to choose the best one."

In addition to her teaching duties, Dr. Thompson serves as a co-coordinator for McKendree's University 101 program and as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Evaluation Committee. She is also the co-advisor for the university's Black Student Organization and a faculty advisor for Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Alpha Theta honor societies. She recently published a book, Friendly Enemies: Soldier Fraternization Throughout the American Civil War, and she is working on a second one about race and recreation in St. Louis. She was also tapped as a speaker in the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts' Distinguished Speaker Series in 2021 and won the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award in 2019.

"I am so excited and honored to receive this award," Dr. Thompson said. "My mentors, Dr. Jim O'Donnell and Dr. Maxine Jones, took me under their wing during my undergraduate and graduate years and believed in me. I hope to have an impact on my students' lives like my mentors did on mine. I believe in my students and try to support them in every way. I try to bring the outside world to the classroom and empower my students with knowledge they can use no matter where life might takes them.

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