人们纷纷向这位受人爱戴的科学教授致敬, visionary, and legendary grant-writer John Kenney announced his retirement after 22 years of shaping Concordia’s science programs and students.
“他是我从事教学的原因之一, especially at Concordia,” says Lindsay Kane-Barnese ’05, 生物化学副教授. “His example, which all my professors set, but especially him, 就是我回到康科迪亚的原因-用他们给予我的方式回报他们吗.”
在最近的校园庆祝活动上, 一幅由艺术教授萨拉·弗莱彻创作的画作揭幕，以纪念约翰和妻子因加, 长期担任协和女神兼职教授. The artwork, titled, “Love Lights the Way,，描绘了肯尼迪夫妇手拉手走向科罗拉多大学中心, wearing their lab coats.
约翰把他的心和心思都放在他的学生身上, not just in classes but in labs, observatories and interactions,” says Bret Taylor, 数学教授兼文理学院院长. “无论你往哪里看，你都能看到在约翰指导下的人.”
这种指导总是前瞻性的.
泰勒说:“他鼓励学生们超越自己的个人能力. “For the university, 他用他的远见把我们推向了一个不同的领域, 他对每一个和他有关系的学生都这样做. 他促使他们思考，你还能做什么? How could you go even farther? That’s the legacy I see, is a person who motivated a university and its students to excel and see beyond what they thought they could do.”
肯尼最早的学生之一, Evan Neidholt ’05, 2005年4月，他和妻子从休斯顿的美国宇航局约翰逊航天中心发来了一段视频信息, Texas, 为肯尼的退休庆典干杯. 四月是美国国家航空航天局和加拿大航天局之间的联络人, 从事国际空间站等项目, the Lunar Gateway and Artemis, 它的目标是月球和火星. 埃文在约翰逊航天中心的机组人员和热系统部门工作, 他是项目专家和仪器开发人员.
“I got a great start in engineering and instrumentation and chemical physics research in John’s lab,” Evan said. “Dr. 肯尼和我是在2001年同一年来到康科迪亚的. 我们一起创办了那些实验室. I learned how to do research, and that has served me my whole career and led to all kinds of opportunities I couldn’t have even dreamed of on my own.”
一段特别美好的回忆是他和Dr. Kenney drove a U-Haul truck full of donated lab science equipment from Washington State to Irvine. 肯尼有本事免费弄到二手科学设备.
“You can’t walk around Founders Hall without seeing some piece of equipment he got donated,” says Taylor. “人们捐款是因为他们知道他是谁，他是什么人.”
April, who had Dr. Kenney for chemistry, said he not only got Evan started in research but pushed him to apply to his “reach school,” CalTech, where he finished his PhD. Evan then worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for seven years before moving to Houston to work at NASA.
“我可以肯定地说，如果没有布朗博士，我们不可能做到这一点. Kenney,” says April. “我们想花一点时间感谢你们两位在我们生命中所做的工作.”
2001年，凯恩-巴尼斯教授也是一名新生. Kenney joined the faculty.
“他的教学非常互动, for example, 从墙上跳下来来演示气体的行为,” she says. “One of the big things I took away from his labs was he taught us how things work and how to figure out what we were doing. 他帮助我们理解我们所看到的，也给了我们学习的空间.”
他还帮助她投身科学事业. 整个夏天都在他的实验室工作, she realized that studying science didn’t just mean going into medicine but could lead to graduate school, research, and teaching a host of subjects. Later, when she became a professor at Concordia, Kane-Barnese says Kenney became a mentor.
“他帮助我正确看待如何服务学生, what to watch for, where to teach to,” she says. In her organic chemistry classes, 她从他那里得到启发，把科学应用于日常生活, exploring how butter browns and what happens chemically when coffee is roasted and brewed.
她说:“他是让事情变得有关联的一个很好的例子。.
Relatable — and fun. 肯尼用吹枪射出飞镖，帮助学生理解动量. He lit tables on fire, and shot a potato gun across campus from the back of Founders Hall. 著名的是，他教了无数学生如何制作液氮冰淇淋.
“我永远不会忘记在过山车上和博士一起学习物理. 03届的托尼·勒纳(Toni Lerner)， 05届工商管理硕士在悼念中写道. “谈谈体验式学习!”
除了体验式学习，肯尼还是一个真正的有远见的人.
“John was the impetus behind getting the chemistry and physics majors up and running,” says Taylor. “He saw things in his mind that a lot of people couldn’t see, and he could see how it could work. He had enough spirit, motivation, 并推动人们朝着这些方向前进——这一切都是为了学生的利益.”
That impact proved life-changing. 15岁的Cecilia Eiroa Lledo称John和Inga为“我的科学养父母”.“我和他们一起做研究，但他们也在我的个人生活和信仰上帮助了我。,” she told the magazine.
Dr. 肯尼还帮她找到了符合她兴趣的实习机会, 指给她看华盛顿州, 她在那里获得了化学博士学位. While there, Eiroa Lledo was awarded a prestigious Seaborg Fellowship to conduct research in nuclear chemistry at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She emailed Kenney to say, “I have been very blessed to have you both guide me and train me to be able to achieve such unthinkable goals! I would never have thought that I would work at such a prestigious institution before all the inspiration I received from you!!”
Another student, Grace Chong ’15, was accepted into doctoral programs at UCLA, USC, UCSD and Rice. She credited mentors Dr. Kenney and Dr. Lindsay Kane-Barnese.
格蕾丝说:“和他们一起工作让我意识到自己对教学有热情。. The fact that those students of his who pursued graduate studies excelled in their programs “tells us that our coursework is rigorous, 我们的学生正在学习基础知识, and their extensive exposure to research as undergraduates is positioning them to be PhD students,” Kenney told the magazine.
And while Dr. 肯尼是一个“非常注重大局的人”,” as Kane-Barnese puts it, 他的画像大得足以把神包住.
“约翰不仅以科学为中心，而且以信仰为中心，”泰勒说. “He was clear that this is a connecting point to understand the Creator and what he has given.”
Many students and former co-workers commented on Kenney’s profound spiritual impact on their lives.
“Your enthusiasm in showing God’s handiwork through the sciences has been a great encouragement to many, and to me!1988年的前校园牧师史蒂文·博斯特写道.
“Your passion for Christ and science are something I continue to carry with me in my professional and personal life,” wrote Chelsea Entzel ’11.
Dr. Kenney also secured some of the largest grants Concordia had ever received at the time. These included funding for a new piece of equipment for a telescope at the Great Basin Observatory in Nevada, and funding for the purchase and installation of telescopes and an observatory on Concordia’s own campus.
“我可以坐在康科迪亚的办公桌前，让望远镜移动, 告诉它要接收什么样的数据, track this object or that object,肯尼谈到大盆地望远镜时说, for which Concordia helped purchase a high-resolution spectrograph for exploring the universe in finer detail. “学生们有很多机会去发现系外行星. There are more interesting projects in the heavens than there are astronomers or observatories to do them.”
Practical as ever, 他还指出，通过使用天文台设备, “Students learn a tremendous amount” of transferable skills “which would be found in any scientific or technical workplace.”
在另一个场合还想得很远大, Kenney helped physics major Susan Eschelbach ’21 lead a team to design and build a human-powered rover capable of surmounting various obstacles, 为高中生和大学生举办的NASA竞赛. The four-person team conceived, 3-D-modeled, and then built the rover, 学习焊接和切割铝, 并创造悬挂和转向系统.
“这个探测车的转向系统绝对是惊人的，”肯尼谈到这个项目时说. “They did not win the final prize but got really good reviews for innovation and execution. 他们付出了巨大的努力. They learned how to fundraise, to find sponsors, to engage specific experts when they got stuck — even go to a local bike shop to learn more about how gears work.”
In 2022, John won the Distinguished Educator of the Year award given by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce to the year’s stand-out educator in any public or private school, college or university. 这只是证实了那一代学生已经知道的事情.
“You both are a wonderful gift to Concordia and your legacy will continue to inspire your co-workers to serve students and the Lord,” said Richard Lewis ’18. “Thank you both for all you have poured into Concordia and the beautiful legacy you graciously leave for generations to come!” wrote Leah Roney, MA ’22.
“在过去的几年里，我很荣幸能和你们一起在赌博十大平台排行工作。. Eugene Kim. “你一直是一个鼓舞人心的人，一个祈祷的战士，一个仆人式的领袖. 我们的校园因您的事工而生气勃勃，我们会想念您的. Your impact will live on.”
A second farewell gathering was held on campus especially for students — an ice cream social at which students made liquid nitrogen ice cream.
"Love Lights the Way" painting of the Kenneys by staff member and artist, Sara Flecter