Kristofer Kracht, an instructor in the communication studies department and the director of the Gustavus Adolphus College forensics program, received the 2010 Swenson-Bunn Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence at the College’s Honors Day convocation in early May.
The award, nominated by students and selected by a vote of the Student Senate, has been presented annually since 1990.
Kracht, who joined the Gustavus faculty in 2002, teaches courses such as Public Discourse, Forensics, and Critical Thinking and Argument. He is also the head coach of the College’s nationally ranked forensics team. Under Kracht’s tutelage, the forensics team has become a national power, earning a top 10 ranking this season for the first time in the program’s history.
During the 2009-10 academic year, the forensics team won its third straight Minnesota Collegiate Forensics Association State Championship; captured a national championship by placing first in the individual events portion of the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament; and placed tenth at the American Forensic Association’s National Individual Events Tournament.
Kracht earned his bachelor’s degree in 2000 from the University of Mary and his master’s degree in 2002 from South Dakota State University.
The Swenson-Bunn Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence honors the memory of two Gustavus students and members of the Student Senate, Greg Swenson and Holly Bunn, who were killed in a car accident in 1989.
Leave a Reply