Matthew Buechner, Kansas University associate professor of molecular biosciences, is announced as the HOPE Award winner for teaching excellence in the first quarter of Saturday’s football game at Memorial Stadium. At rear left is Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

Every week, Matthew Buechner, Kansas University molecular biosciences associate professor, is faced with a daunting task: making science fun for the 300 undergraduate students attending his biology class.

And in a clear sign that he succeeds, Buechner was awarded the 50th annual Honor for Outstanding Progressive Educator Award during the first quarter of the KU football game Saturday. Buechner joined five other finalists nominated by KU seniors for the award that honors a professor for his or her teaching skills.

Buechner has won teaching awards before, including a Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2006, but he said the fact that the HOPE is a student-based award “feels great.”

“That alone means a lot to me,” he said.

In addition to the nominating process, the selection of the winner is also done by students, through the Board of Class Officers. Vice President Matt Enriquez, a KU communication studies senior, interviewed Buechner as part of the selection process, and said Buechner’s ability to connect with students and make class interesting was what impressed the board.

“They (Buechner’s students) really just appreciated the way he relates to them,” Enriquez said. “He focuses on making it fun for the students.”

Enriquez said Buechner’s students enjoy his teaching style so much that half his class attends voluntary weekly study sessions.

“That blew us away,” he said.

So what kind of humor comes from a professor whose published articles include titles such as “Cystic Canal Mutants in Caenorhabditis Elegans are Defective in the Apical Membrane Domain of the Renal (Excretory) Cell?”

Buechner said one of his favorite laughter-inducing tactics is putting green dye into a milk carton, drinking the milk, and doing an Incredible Hulk impression.

“If you have the students laughing, they stay engaged,” Buechner said.

Aside from injecting fun into class, Buechner said his favorite part of teaching is “when the students get it and understand a difficult point.”