School of Medicine faculty members Peter Koulen, Ph.D., professor and Felix and Carmen Sabates Missouri Endowed Chair in Vision Research, and James Wooten, Pharm.D., associate professor of medicine, were honored at the “Celebration of Excellence” Faculty Staff Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 9 at the UMKC Student Union.
Koulen received this year’s N.T. Veatch Award for Distinguished Research and Creativity and Wooten received the Elmer F. Pierson Outstanding Teaching award. The annual awards program recognizes the exceptional achievements of University faculty and staff.
Koulen joined the School of Medicine in 2009 as a professor of basic medical science and endowed chair in the Department of Ophthalmology. Lynda Bonewald, Ph.D., vice chancellor for translational and clinical research, presented the N.T. Veatch Award, which recognizes distinguished research and other scholarly or creative activity accomplished by UMKC faculty.
Wooten serves as Pharm.D. for the School of Medicine’s Gold Docent Unit. A graduate of Creighton University, he has been a faculty member at the School of Medicine since 1998. Jerry Lonergan, UMKC Alumni Association president elect, presented him with the Pierson award, which is given annually to an outstanding teacher in the Bloch School and the Schools of Dentistry, Law and Medicine.
