NASPA Presents an Award for Mentoring Graduate Faculty to Kathy Guthrie of Florida State University

Kathy Guthrie, an associate professor in the College of Education at Florida State University, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member by NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The award is the highest honor that NASPA gives to a graduate faculty member.

“I am deeply humbled and honored to have received this award,” Dr. Guthrie said. “Its namesake is a man whose legacy has influenced how I try to serve students and one I strive to emulate. This award symbolizes my deep gratitude for the opportunity to learn with and from students as we collectively try to make higher education — and our world — a better place.”

A member of the Florida State faculty since 2008, Dr. Guthrie also serves as the director of the Leadership Learning Research Center and coordinates the undergraduate certificate program in leadership studies. She is also the director of the Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education. Her research focuses on the learning outcomes and environment of leadership and civic education, online teaching and learning, and professional development for student affairs professionals. She is the co-author of the book The Role of Leadership Educators: Transforming Learning (Information Age Publishing, 2018).

Dr. Guthrie is a graduate of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, where she majored in business administration. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. in educational organization and leadership from the University of Illinois.