Campus community pays tribute to memory of devoted faculty member

The University of Missouri-Kansas City campus community gathered recently to remember one of their own – a special life cut unexpectedly short.

Dr. Carol Koehler taught at UMKC for 25 years, and she served as chair of the Department of Communications Studies. She passed away unexpectedly in December 2011. Fellow alumni and fellow faculty, staff members, friends and family of Professor Koehler came together to honor her memory with the dedication of a bench on the campus outside of Haag Hall.

Friends, family and former students also have established the Carol M. Koehler Memorial Internship Scholarship in her honor. Click here to donate online (indicate the Carol Koehler scholarship in the comment box) – or click here for other ways to give.

Dr. Carol Koehler
1938-2011

Upon her passing, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Wayne Vaught called Carol “one of our most dear and devoted faculty members” and cited her “long and steadfast commitment to our academic mission, to our students, and to the faculty with whom she worked.”

At the bench dedication ceremony, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Gail Hackett said Carol “touched the lives of countless people” in the course of her life.

“Today’s event was not just weeks or months in the making. It is years of professional achievements, and a lifetime of dedicated service, that bring us together here today. The consequences of those achievements and service span decades, and reverberate across generations of people who are the beneficiaries of Prof. Koehler’s life’s work,” she said. “Every day, as people pass by her bench, they will be reminded of the lasting influence that Prof. Koehler has had on UMKC’s faculty and students – in fact, on our whole community.”