Dr. Karen Hill Johnson, communication instructor at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, was recently named the Looney-Benin Community College Instructor of the Year by the Kentucky Communication Association (KCA).Dr. Johnson received the state award during the “Building on Excellence” conference at KCA’s annual meeting September 26-27. Over 60 participants attended the two-day conference held at Buckhorn Lake State Park just outside Hazard.
“It is a great honor to receive this award. I am thankful for the guidance of my mentors throughout the years who have demonstrated exceptional teaching and leadership,” said Dr. Johnson. “I am also thankful for the affirming, positive, and supportive leadership at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, for without their support I could not do what I love doing most: teaching students how to communicate effectively in their personal and professional lives.”
The award is named after Hope Benin and Robert "Bob" Looney of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). Both were active members of the KCA in the 1990s. They sponsored the Basic Communication Course Annual Conference in Kentucky for many years. Benin is a professor of communication at Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC). Looney was an award-winning communication professor at BSCTC before his untimely death in 2009 at age 45.
The KCA, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1931 for the promotion of effective teaching, research, and practice in the artistic, humanistic, and scientific principles of communication, while increasing the visibility and effectiveness of communication professionalism. The organization is comprised of communication instructors and professionals throughout the state of Kentucky, as well as Tennessee, Arkansas, and Indiana.