A Kansas University honor society will recognize five KU faculty and staff members as outstanding educators at an upcoming basketball game.

The KU Mortar Board society is a chapter of a national organization that values service, academics and leadership, said Andy Kriegh, the group’s president.

The recipients of the Outstanding Educator award are: Jennifer Jordan, director of business career services at the KU School of Business; Mikhail Barybin, associate professor of chemistry; Peter Grund, assistant professor of English; Leslie Tuttle, assistant professor of history; and Susan Harris, distinguished professor of English.

“It’s to show that we really appreciate a lot of the efforts that people on our campus put into educating our students,” Kriegh said.

He said all 48 seniors in the group were able to nominate educators for the award, and all of them voted on the recipients.

“We didn’t box ourselves in by strict guidelines,” Kriegh said, noting that one of the recipients, Jordan, isn’t even a faculty member.

“She’s an educator because we thought she’s really helping to shape our lives after college, too,” Kriegh said.

Erin Robinson, a senior from Lawrence and a Mortar Board member, served as a co-chair for the awards.

“It kind of goes further than somebody who’s just a good teacher,” she said, adding that the group tried to find people who also served as mentors and were available to help students outside of class. “In college, your education is so much more than what happens inside the classroom.”

The educators will be honored during the men’s KU-Fort Hays State basketball game Nov. 8 and again during a Nov. 13 reception.