Students honor aerospace engineering professor with 2018 H.O.P.E. Award

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas senior class has honored celebrated educator Shawn Keshmiri, associate professor of aerospace engineering, with the 2018 H.O.P.E. Award — to Honor an Outstanding Progressive Educator.

The H.O.P.E. Award is given annually through the Board of Class Officers. Keshmiri was announced as this year’s winner during halftime of the Nov. 3 football game against Iowa State.

Those who nominated Keshmiri — or “Dr. K.” — noted his work ethic and dedication to his students’ success, illustrated by an overnight drive he made from Chicago to Lawrence after a canceled flight so that he could teach class that afternoon as scheduled.

In the nomination materials, one student noted that Keshmiri seems to know every textbook used in the program by heart, writing “Multiple times in class he has cited equations from books used in other courses down to the page number. I’ve never seen anyone so involved with their work or their students.”

Keshmiri came to KU in 2004 as a graduate research assistant. In 2007, he earned a doctorate from KU in aerospace engineering. As a postdoctoral researcher, he worked at the university’s Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets.

He was named an assistant professor of aerospace engineering in 2008, and in 2014 he was promoted to associate professor.

In addition to his achievements as an academic — from research grants to numerous scholarly publications and presentations — Keshmiri’s career at KU has been marked with many other teaching awards.