James Madison College professors Louise Jezierski and Myunghee Lee have received the Ken and Sandy Waltzer Teaching Excellence Awards in recognition of their contributions to undergraduate education and student development.
Named for Professor Emeritus Ken Waltzer and his wife, Sandy, the awards support and celebrate excellence in teaching at the college. Presented annually, they recognize exceptional teaching, significant impact on students, contributions to curriculum and successful mentoring of colleagues.
2027 Recipients
Associate Professor Louise Jezierski teaches in JMC’s Social Relations & Policy field. Her teaching and research cover urban and community development, social theory, urban social movements, regional political economy, social relations of race and ethnicity, class and gender, and U.S. social policy, including education and urban policy.
Jezierski’s teaching has earned recognition across the university, including the MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2010 and the Curricular Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Award in 2010 and 2016. Jezierski was also named a Lilly Teaching Fellow in 2000-01.
Class of 2026 graduate Nahlia Moncrief worked with Jezierski in a Madison Academic Research Tutorial co-taught with Associate Professor Sejuti Das Gupta. Moncrief described Jezierski’s approach as student-centered. When a new job began to conflict with Moncrief’s class schedule, Jezierski immediately offered to help.
“Without me even asking or missing a beat, she offered to write me a letter to show I was in class,” Moncrief said. “She immediately wanted to advocate for me.”
Moncrief said Jezierski’s generosity has influenced how she thinks about her own path after graduation.
“My goal is to be as generous with my time and knowledge as Prof. Jezierski,” she said. “I will always appreciate her humor, generosity and the grace she has provided me.”
Assistant Professor Myunghee Lee teaches in JMC’s International Relations field and is an honorary Korea Foundation Professor at MSU. Her research examines authoritarian politics, democratization, authoritarian legacies and protest, with a regional focus on East Asia, including China and the Korean Peninsula.
Lee’s work has appeared in journals including International Security, Democratization, Journal of East Asia Studies and International Studies Review, and has been supported by the Korea Foundation and the Academy of Korean Studies. She serves as an associate editor at Communist and Post-Communist Studies. Before joining MSU, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen.
Class of 2026 graduate Sam Wright took three consecutive semesters of courses with Lee during his time at JMC.
“I came to appreciate not only her expertise on authoritarian regimes and international politics, but also her humility, accessibility and genuine respect for students’ perspectives,” Wright said. “Her enthusiasm for student success is unmistakable, and I will always remember how excited she was when I shared the news that I had been selected for a study abroad scholarship she helped me to pursue.”
About the Award
The Waltzer Teaching Excellence Endowment was established through contributions from former students, friends and family of Ken and Sandy Waltzer. While JMC has long emphasized teaching excellence as a criterion for faculty success, these awards specifically highlight teaching as a key element in the college’s culture. JMC’s Faculty Affairs Committee selects Waltzer Award recipients annually.
Make a gift to the Ken and Sandy Waltzer Teaching Excellence Endowment online.