Two framed documents hang inconspicuously on Donn Parson’s office wall.

It’s easy to pass over them, but a close look reveals they are among the top teaching awards Kansas University gives its faculty.

The first, tucked behind a hulking fax machine, is the Chancellor’s Award for teaching. The other, partially covered by stacks of papers, is the Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

“My interior decorator quit,” Parson said, joking about the less-than-ideal display.

The longtime professor of communication studies promises to find a better spot for his latest honor.

Parson is this year’s recipient of the Chancellors Club Career Teaching Award. He’ll be honored today along with Peter Smith, professor of molecular and integrative physiology at KU Medical Center. Smith is receiving the Chancellors Club Research Award.

Both awards include a $5,000 prize.

Debating at length

Parson came to KU in 1964 and directed KU’s debate team for more than two decades until 1988.

He led the team to winning finishes in the national tournament three times: in 1970, 1976, and 1983. It’s a feat subsequent teams have neared but not been able to repeat. Parson was director of the national tournament for another decade, from 1993 to 2004.

“I think there’s no question that he’s simply the most influential person : in college debate since the Second World War,” said Robert Rowland, professor and chairman of communication studies who was on Parson’s debate team as a KU student.

Parson looks back fondly on his years with the debate team, when he built a program that could compete with the Ivy League schools on a less-than-optimal budget.

“I was convinced that we could be very competitive,” he said.

He reveled in his work with the sharp students, many of whom aspired to be lawyers. And he believed strongly in the fundamental philosophy of debate: that there often are two sides to any issue.

Parson also has directed the graduate program since 1988.

With 42 years of teaching under his belt, Parson doesn’t have immediate plans for retiring. In a way, he’s having more fun than ever, he said.

“As long as you’re having fun, as long as you’re enjoying it, there’s a possibility that the students are enjoying it,” he said.

Paving the way

Smith came to KU nearly 20 years ago after working as an assistant professor at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

He has followed his interests, he said, focusing much of his research on neuroplacticity, the ability of the nervous system to change itself.

“Many of his studies have revealed very interesting, new aspects of nerve plasticity that have paved the way for other researchers to open their minds about the potential for adult neurons to change their characteristics in response to challenge,” Janet Keast, a professor at the University of Sydney, wrote in a letter nominating Smith for the award.

Smith’s findings include the discovery of the link between estrogen and some common health problems women face, such as migraines and fibromyalgia. Smith found that the conditions are caused by estrogen, which induces pain-receptive nerves to grow. The more nerves, the greater the pain.

Understanding the causes enables researchers to find ways to manipulate the system and help women who suffer from such conditions, Smith said.

Smith also has studied changes in the heart following heart attacks. Many who survive heart attacks suffer arrhythmia days later, a condition that can be life-threatening. Smith’s lab has found that the arrhythmia is caused by cells that are called on to repair the damaged heart following a heart attack. Those cells create a protein that excites the nerves and makes the heart beat faster.

Again, learning about what causes the condition can help researchers solve it, Smith said.

“I’ve simply gone after a number of problems and been very persistent in tackling them,” Smith said of his work.