Bykerk Remembered as Exemplary Faculty, Life-Changing Teacher

Writing in support of Loree Bykerk's promotion to professor in 2000, Jim Johnson, Political Science Chair, wrote about the commitments of an academic life and praised Bykerk as one of the few who excelled at all three.

In service, Bykerk was sought out at every level, regularly taking on leadership roles. She was active in the Faculty Senate, the American Association of University Professors, the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women, the Graduate Council, and the College Advisory and Educational Policy Committees.

Students remember her service as the advisor for Pi Gamma Mu, the international social science honor society. Former student Brent Ruswick wrote, "With her encouragement, I served as student body president... her support of me and that honor society is what first awakened my interest in leadership or confidence that I might have some leadership qualities."

Her political science colleagues will recall her years of service as the first female chair of the Political Science Department (2004-2009). At her three-year review, one wrote, "Dr. Bykerk is devoted, organized, ethical and responsible—in short, everything we could want in a chair."

Bykerk's research was also sought out and included two invited books, U.S. Consumer Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles (1995) and Consumer Politics Protecting Public Interests on Capitol Hill (1994), Greenwood Press. She also contributed several invited book chapters and published articles in top-ranked scholarly journals. Johnson remarks, "It is evident that Dr. Bykerk is a well-respected member of the discipline, recognized nationally for the quality of her contributions to political science."

In 1997, Bykerk received the inaugural College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award. Seven former students wrote letters to the Dean explaining why Bykerk was deserving of the award. Three themes are present in each letter:

• rigorous content and high expectations
• longevity of lessons learned
• the lasting impact of her passion on her students' confidence and life choices

Rachelle Letner wrote, "I have discovered what I believe to be the role and necessity of education, together with the importance of political participation...Dr. Bykerk has fostered personal growth in the areas of self-confidence and awareness and has been instrumental in the development of something I did not have before—a voice."

Linda Piper Scholz wrote, "It doesn't go far enough to say that her skill as a teacher truly affected my life...Loree Bykerk is also a wonderful human being... in her classroom, as in her office, she always remained flexible to the intricacies and curveballs of peoples' lives, and yet never compromised her requirements for succeeding in her class."

Matthew Heys wrote, "This is what good teaching is all about. It is about creating an environment in which a teacher's knowledge, creativity, personality, warmth, sense of humor, and love of the subject unwittingly push the student to surrender every piece of emotional or intellectual contraband that interferes with learning..."