Tim Behme Teaching Faculty Award

Created in 2018, the Tim Behme Teaching Faculty Award is the only award dedicated to non-tenure stream, teaching faculty members in the Department of Communication Studies. We believe that endowing the award is essential in honoring Tim Behme’s legacy and our teaching faculty members’ dedication to undergraduate teaching.

Tim Behme is an alumnus and teaching faculty at the Department of Communication Studies who passed away in 2015. He earned his PhD in the department (advisor: Ed Schiappa) in 2007, examining the norms of authorship and the concepts of intellectual property in ancient Greek rhetoric.
 
During his time as a graduate student, he worked as our department's advisor, cultivating relationships with nearly every one of our undergraduate students in the major and minor. His care for students led him to accept a role in Communication Studies as a lecturer, teaching courses in communication ethics and public speaking. 

Faced with a debilitating illness, Dr. Behme's life was cut short. In his obituary, it was noted that “teaching was a great joy for him, especially his students at the University of Minnesota.” The feelings were mutual. 

In celebration of Dr. Behme's life, commitment to teaching, and love of students his family partnered with us to set up a fund to celebrate quality teaching by P&A (professional and administrative) instructional staff in the Department of Communication Studies.
 
Having this award endowed is critical because it grounds the spirit and reflects the values of the department. We are seeking support from our alumni to show our appreciation for our teaching faculty members and the spirit of the Tim Behme Award.