Laurence R. Draper

Laurence Draper graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Biology, and he was awarded his PhD in 1956 by the University of Chicago in Microbiology. His research in bioradiation under Dr. and Dr. Taliaferro is still the standard by which many students currently learn immunology.  From 1957 until 1968 he was first a Resident Research Associate at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, and then a Research Biologist for the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md.  In 1968 he joined the faculty at the University of Kansas and continued teaching and research for the next forty years as professor in the departments of Microbiology and then Molecular Biosciences. He served as President in faculty governance. In addition to teaching, he became a Faculty Advisor in 1998 and continued those responsibilities until his death.  He earned many prestigious teaching awards throughout his career including the Ned N. Fleming Trust Award for Teaching Excellence, the J. Michael Young Academic Advising Award, and (three times) the Mortar Board Outstanding Educator Award. He had a true passion and gift for teaching by transfer of fascination.  After retiring in 2008, he continued advising and teaching honors classes at the University of Kansas.