Faculty celebrated at Professor and Merit Awards ceremony
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ has announced the recipients of the 2025 University Professor and Merit Awards, recognizing exceptional faculty achievements in teaching, research, and service to the university and academic community.
This year marks the twenty-ninth presentation of these prestigious honors, continuing a tradition that began under the former ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ System Board of Regents. Today, the University Professor and Merit Awards represent the highest faculty accolades offered by Lamar, celebrating both senior and early-career faculty.
The 2025 honorees are:
- Dr. Kaye Shelton – University Professor Award
- Dr. Karen Saar – Merit Award
- Dr. Anna Jilla – Merit Award
- Dr. Kole Kubicek – Merit Award
Dr. Kaye Shelton, a full professor in ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership within the College of Education and Human Development, was named the 2025 University Professor — the institution’s highest honor for senior faculty.
With 26 years in higher education and 13 at Lamar, Shelton is widely recognized as a pioneer in online
learning. She has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and led over 250 workshops, keynotes, and collaborative presentations — many alongside her students. She has trained more than 500 faculty members in online instruction and authored “An Administrator’s Guide to Online Education” (Information Age, 2005). Her work has reached global audiences, with institutional collaborations in Latin America, South America, the Philippines, and Qatar. She has secured over $3 million in grant funding and received numerous accolades, including the Online Learning Consortium’s Fellow Award, the 2019 Texas Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame Award, and the Sloan Consortium’s Outstanding Achievement Award in Online Education.
But for Shelton, her proudest moments have not been the professional accolades.
“When I transitioned to higher ed in 1996, online learning was just beginning,” Shelton said. “My initial goal was to become a national leader in this new, exciting, small field. And while I’m proud to have achieved that, those professional milestones were not quite as meaningful as I anticipated they would be.”
In 2011, her husband’s career relocated their family from Dallas to Houston, and Shelton joined Lamar — a move she thought would be temporary. “I thought we would head back to Dallas, and I had a job waiting on me,” she said. “Fourteen years later, I was wrong.”
She found something more meaningful at Lamar — something lasting.
“Nothing in my career matched working with these scholars,” she said. “Your research is not just an academic exercise. It’s actually a catalyst for transformation — in their lives, their communities, and the future of education itself.”
Shelton described the experience of mentoring doctoral students as deeply rewarding. “Getting to witness their ‘aha’ moments, their breakthroughs, and the ripple effects of their work has been an amazing journey,” she said. “Our students trust us with their curiosity, their struggles, their dreams. They are why our work matters. Our truest legacy is really in the lives we shape along the way.”
Three assistant professors were honored with 2025 Merit Awards for early-career excellence.
These faculty honors reflect ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s deep commitment to academic excellence and student success.
“Everything we do, we're here for students,” ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ President Dr. Jaime Taylor said. “For the heart and soul of our campus is the faculty. They’re the ones that are right there with the students, working with the students every single day. And that's why an event like this is so important to me — to get to recognize the faculty and the work that they do.”
To learn more about ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s Professor and Merit Awards visit, /faculty-staff/academic-affairs/awards/university-professor-merit-award.html.