KENNEY NAMED RECIPIENT OF ANNUAL KINNEY-SUGG AWARD

NORMAN – Charles Kenney, associate professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, was surprised on Tuesday afternoon to discover he is the fifth recipient of the annual Kinney-Sugg Outstanding Professor Award presented through the OU College of Arts and Sciences.

Kenney was taken aback by the announcement of the award, as Paul B. Bell Jr., dean of the college; Greg Russell, chair of the Department of Political Science; along with five other members of the college staff and five members of the political science staff paraded into his classroom.

“Professor Kenney, in addition to being an outstanding leader in the Department of Political Science, is one of our most popular and accomplished teachers and is a nationally recognized expert in the field of Latin American politics,” Russell said.

Along with a bouquet of balloons and miniature chocolate bars, Kenney, and his class of 40 students, were pleased to learn he also will be honored at a luncheon with colleagues, where he will receive a $5,000 check and personal plaque in recognition. In addition to the afternoon’s announcement, Kenney was acknowledged as this year’s Kinney-Sugg award recipient at the college’s fall faculty meeting held later in the day.

“It is a pleasure to recognize and honor one of our most dedicated professors,” Bell said. “The enthusiasm Kenney shows in his classes and to his research is testament to the commitment to excellence in which OU and the college take pride.”

Prior to coming to OU in 1997, Kenney lived in Peru from 1978 to 1979 and again from 1984 to 1991. While at OU, Kenney has taught Government and Politics of Latin America and the International Relations of Latin America. 

Kenney’s research interests include democratization, constitutional design, electoral and party systems, and Peruvian politics. Related areas of interest include comparative politics, Latin American politics and international relations, authoritarianism, ethics and politics, and political violence and revolution. He received his bachelor of arts in philosophy and his master’s and doctoral degrees in political science, all from the University of Notre Dame, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica in 2000. Kenney also served as a member of the Latin American Studies Association delegation of international electoral observers for the 2000 Peruvian elections, and as a member of the National Democratic Institute and Carter Center joint international observation mission in 2001.

The Kinney-Sugg Outstanding Professor Award, established by OU alumna Sandy Kinney and her husband, Mike Sugg, was first awarded in 2002 to help the college reward and retain outstanding professors. Past award recipients include Dan Glatzhofer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Harold Grasmick in the Department of Sociology, John Cowan in the Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Melissa Stockdale in the Department of History.