This year, the Colorado State University Alumni Association awarded six professors the Best Teacher Award, honoring those who leave lasting impacts on their students. Of this year’s recipients, three are CSU alumni who have continued to leave their mark on the university long after their time as students.
Lorie Barker graduated from CSU with a Bachelor of Science in occupational therapy in 1998.
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Following her time at CSU, Barker spent the first half of her career in the U.S. Army as an active-duty therapist, specializing in hand therapy and managing injuries of the upper extremities.
“(CSU) gave me a nice foundation in occupational therapy but also allowed me to explore where I was going to fit in, … and for me, that was starting out in the army,” Barker said. “That was one of the best decisions that I made.”
“To be able to come back at the institution where I was an undergraduate student was really valuable to me because it’s already a connection that you have with the people you’re teaching.” -Traci Kinkel, alumna and award recipient
In 2011, Barker transitioned out of the army and returned to Colorado. She currently treats patients in an occupational therapy clinic and is an instructor for the occupational therapy department in CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
“When I think about how I can give back to the profession and what’s the best way to do that, I feel like that’s through teaching … the next generation of occupational therapists and passing along some of the things that I’ve learned along the way,” Barker said.
Traci Kinkel graduated from CSU with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology in 2003. After graduating, Kinkel earned a Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“I really wanted to be a scientist to study microbiology and contribute to figuring out how to treat or prevent infectious disease from occurring,” Kinkel said.
Following her Ph.D., Kinkel went on to do postdoctoral research and explored the idea of teaching microbiology.
“I was a scientist in the research lab by day, and then in the evenings, I would go and teach adjunct at the community colleges nearby because I wanted to gain teaching experience,” Kinkel said. “Although I loved the science I was doing, I was unhappy with the role of being a scientist. So could I use my background, my education, to do something in this field like teaching?”
In 2019, Kinkel accepted her dream job and moved back to Colorado to be an instructor at CSU for the department of microbiology, immunology and pathology.
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“To be able to come back at the institution where I was an undergraduate student was really valuable to me because it’s already a connection that you have with the people you’re teaching,” Kinkel said. “You guys are making an investment to be students; I feel like my connection to CSU is an investment in your future, too, because I want us all to be successful, and it has meaning.”
Ramadan Abdunabi earned a Master of Science in computer science from CSU as an international student from Libya in 2010. He then earned his Ph.D. in 2013 and joined the CSU faculty as an adjunct professor of computer information systems in 2015.
Abdunabi’s goal has always been to help students connect their education to the real world. Whether a student or a teacher, he has always emphasized the importance of applying concepts and theories to everyday life.
“I’m not the person to just talk about theories, but I like to connect theories to real practice,” Abdunabi said. “For example, instead of talking about algorithms of broad chain or some cybersecurity encryptions, I will tell them how day-to-day websites that we use for CSU or an e-commerce use these theories and apply them in order to protect people.”
When he isn’t teaching at CSU, Abdunabi organizes information technology summer programs to teach community members about cybersecurity and help them empower their businesses.
“This is part of my culture — trying to help people,” Abdunabi said. “I feel like I know something that can benefit a society. All my programs are free, so I did cybersecurity training to connect why I love what I’m doing.”
CSU is a very special place to Abdunabi; he appreciates the culture of the university and could not see himself teaching anywhere else. His wife and daughter are CSU graduates as well.
“All my dreams were connected with what I found here at CSU,” Abdunabi said. “I started feeling this is my home. I started feeling these are my people, even though they keep changing.”
Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.
