Altadena Professor Wins Top Caltech Honor

A Caltech professor and Altadena resident has been awarded the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

J. Morgan Kousser, a professor of history and social science at Caltech, won the award based on his "exceptional ability to draw science and engineering students to appreciate the intellectual rigors of legal thought," according to the Caltech press release.

The Feynman award was established in 1993 to annually honor a professor who shows "unusual ability, creativity, and innovation in undergraduate and graduate classroom or laboratory teaching," according to the release.

Kousser has been a member of the Caltech faculty since 1969,  and has written several books on minority voting rights and 19th century Southern politics. His research focuses on minority voting rights, the history of education, and the legal and political aspects of race relations in the 19th and 20th centuries.

He has also served as a legal expert in voting rights cases and will be chairing an upcoming .

Kousser was nominated for the award by his students.