From the CEC Executive Council

We take great pleasure and pride in reporting that Dr. Al-Khafaji has won the 2008 Bradley University's prestigious Putnam Award for Teaching Excellence, a testimony to his devotion to students and the quality of teaching at Bradley. In every activity that Dr. Al-Khafaji undertakes, students always come first. Dr. Al-Khafaji's knowledge of the subject area is immense, evident by the fact that he has written ten textbooks in the areas of geotechnical engineering, engineering mechanics, and numerical methods.

Dr. Al-Khafaji's accomplishments in teaching, research, and service are legendary – a look at his resume is truly humbling! His resume includes academic degrees in both civil engineering and construction, which also happen to be the two academic programs in the CEC department. This breadth of knowledge and the depth of his understanding in various areas of civil engineering and construction are quite extraordinary. These attributes have made him a wonderful teacher who can inspire students by example and leadership. His knowledge of history adds greatly to the way that students learn because it gives them a perspective that they would not have had otherwise.

Dr. Al-Khafaji has greatly impacted education in his classroom and at the departmental, university, and community levels of education. In addition to receiving excellent student evaluations in CEC, he also has been an invited lecturer in the Department of Sociology. Furthermore, he has helped lead groups of students and faculty from other departments on our Global Explorer Program. When he first joined Bradley, he proposed the Teaching Excellence Committee, a model that is used at the University level and departmental level. He has always insisted on teaching students inside and outside the classroom. Through his efforts, CEC offers leadership scholarships that reward student applicants for their leadership potential. Dr. Al-Khafaji instituted the Bridge Pal program that introduces and inspires high school students to study engineering. Dr. Al-Khafaji has also been working the improve minority representation in CEC and at Bradley.

Excellence in teaching goes well beyond performance in the classroom and student evaluations. It requires a degree of commitment that is special, an ability to help students achieve their full potential, and an ability to inspire and endow students with leadership skills that will serve them well beyond their years at Bradley University. Dr. Al-Khafaji has a "presence" in the classroom that is difficult to define precisely but that always leads to the full engagement of students in classroom activities. He asks questions, asks students to volunteer their opinions, but most importantly, always treats students with respect inside and outside the classroom. This encourages students to engage in the process of life-long learning and make it an integral part of their lifestyle, long after they leave Bradley University. Dr. Al-Khafaji inspires students and faculty with the dedication he brings personally to every lecture, down to the last detail of issues like notation that will help the students learn more effectively!

Dr. Al-Khafaji is the only active faculty member on the Bradley University campus to have won both the Putnam Award for Teaching Excellence and the Rothberg Award for Research Excellence. The list of awards he has won over the years would require an entire newsletter! Recently, he was awarded the Bradley University Parents' Association Award, which is given by the Parents' Association based on direct feedback from students, the 2006 “IAPA Man of the Year Award” – an award given previously to three governors and many prominent individuals, and the 2008 Rhythm Pounder Award, a leadership award given by the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce. We are proud of Dr. Al-Khafaji's accomplishment and congratulate him on a well-deserved and long overdue, recognition for excellence in teaching.