Telecom Professor Wins Collins Award

Baylor University telecommunications professor Michael Korpi has been named the winner of the 2006 Collins Outstanding Professor Award. Recipients of the award are chosen annually by a senior class vote.
As this year's winner, Korpi will be recognized at May commencement exercises, receive a $10,000 cash prize and deliver a public lecture - What Are Connections Worth - at 4 p.m. Monday, May 8, in room 101 at the Castellaw Communications Center.
"This is very gratifying. I mostly teach freshmen and sophomores, so it is nice that the seniors remembered my classes," Korpi said.
"Michael Korpi is a dedicated professional who brings his cutting-edge knowledge of media technology into the classroom," said Dr. Karla Leeper, acting chair of communication studies. "He is very generous about including students in his ongoing research agenda. That connection between teaching and faculty research invaluably enriches our students."
Professor and director of the telecommunication division in the department of communication studies, Korpi also is a Senior Research Fellow at the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, and a member of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. He is a graduate of Liberty University and the University of Iowa.
An award-winning film maker, he has produced and directed documentaries on a range of topics from automobile racing to world hunger. He also is a leading researcher on new communication technologies such as high definition television, nonlinear editing systems, digital cinema and video games. Korpi produced test materials for the HDTV standardization process, including the first side-by-side tests of Super 16mm vs. 35mm film transferred to HDTV.
He frequently presents papers for such groups as the National Association of Broadcasters, the Digital World Conference and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He also has served as a consultant for the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Broadband Initiatives 2000 report for Human Code and the Texas News Network.
Korpi has been at Baylor since 1982. He served as chair of the department of communication studies from 2000-04 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Brazos Valley Public Broadcasting Foundation.
He and his wife, Deborah, have three children: Joel, Faith and Zachary.
The Collins Outstanding Professor program was funded in 1994 by the Carr P. Collins Foundation to honor outstanding teachers at Baylor University.