Karen Stump Honored with the Richard Moore Education Award

Generations of students have been guided under the steady hand of Karen Stump, a teaching professor and director of undergraduate programs in the Department of Chemistry.

“One of the things I very much appreciate in the Mellon College of Science is that the folks who have advising responsibilities are also faculty members in their discipline, and so I've been really fortunate both to see students in the classroom and act as an advisor for the chemistry majors,” Stump said.

Stump offers decades of wisdom and experience. A 1981 alumna of the department, she joined the faculty a few years later and has advised students for 30 years.

“Working with students has continued to create joy in my work life,” Stump said. “They have been very open with me, sharing when things are happy and sharing when things are hard. I very much appreciate when, at the end of the day, every day, I feel like I've helped somebody with something.”

Stump leads a seminar in the fall that has brought dozens of alumni back to offer students advice.

“I ask alumni as a favor to come back and share their experiences, and they come from all across the country,” Stump said.

Another point of pride was her role as the project lead, along with an architect and facilities manager, to oversee the design and supervision of Doherty Hall renovations, a 10-year project completed in 2003.

“I'm still really proud of the fact that the renovations still look and function great,” she said.

In her professional career, Stump has won three university-level awards: 2017 Teaching Innovation Award, 2011 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Advising and Mentoring and the 2005 William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching.

“I feel good that the things that I've done have contributed to an excellent education for the students and that I’ve provided models that other people that I work with have been able to adopt and modify in such creative and wonderful ways,” Stump said.

Stump is the 2024 recipient of the Richard Moore Education Award. The award was established in 1995 to recognize faculty members in the Mellon College of Science who have made substantial and sustained contributions to the educational mission of the college, particularly faculty members whose educational contributions to the college have extended over a substantial portion of their academic careers.