When Kim Keller learned she had been named the 2024-25 UNT 'Fessor Graham Award winner, her first reaction was disbelief.

"I thought it was a prank," Keller recalls with a laugh. "I'm a tough professor, and when you're tough, you don't expect awards. You expect complaints."

But Keller, a senior lecturer who joined the UNT in 2018, is exactly the kind of educator the 'Fessor Graham Award was created to honor. Presented annually by the UNT Student Government Association, the award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding and unselfish service to students. It is the highest honor given by the student body -- one that Keller never imagined for herself, yet deeply reflects her philosophy as both a teacher and a mentor.

Tough Love with Heart

Keller teaches primarily public relations courses -- everything from introductory writing to the senior capstone. Students quickly learn that she sets high expectations. Assignments come back covered in feedback. Grammar mistakes are marked, even in upper-level classes.

"If I didn't care about them, I wouldn't push them," she says.

That insistence on excellence comes from Keller's own experience growing up in a working-class Latino family in Buffalo, New York. She remembers wearing secondhand clothes to school and standing in line for free lunch tokens. She says her teachers were the ones who kept her on track.

"One of my teachers told me, 'You can't just be as good as everyone else -- you have to be better,'" she recalls. "At first, I didn't understand, but later I realized she was right. My family didn't have connections. Education was my way out. Those teachers pushed me, and now I feel an obligation to pay that forward."

An Empath in the Classroom

Keller's rough edges as a tough professor are smoothed by her immense empathy. She notices when students are struggling and invites them in for conversation, snacks or simply a safe place to talk.

"Sometimes students come in heartbroken, sometimes they're hungry. I keep food in my office so no one has to go without. And if someone needs more than I can give, I make sure they get connected to the right resources."

Her classroom also includes some other tools for navigating stress: Play-Doh, a plush llama nicknamed the "drama llama" and even small llama keychains she gives to students in her public relations writing course.

"PR is one of the most stressful careers out there," Keller says. "The drama llama became a symbol that it's okay to find small comforts when things get hard."

A Career of Communication

Before teaching, Keller built a successful career in public relations, spending most of it with FedEx Corp. in Memphis. She also freelanced for outlets including Fox News Latino and The Dallas Morning News and taught as an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University and the University of Memphis.

She credits those experiences with helping to shape how she teaches. She urges students to think beyond social media posts, emphasizing timeless communication skills such as clear writing, audience awareness and crisis management.

"Technology has changed everything," Keller says. "But the fundamentals of good communication like empathy, integrity and accountability are always important."

Lasting impact

Her impact is evident in the lifelong relationships she's built with students. Keller still hears from some of the first students she taught back in the late 1990s, many of whom are senior executives.

"That's when you know you've had a positive impact."

Now an empty nester, Keller says she's reflecting more on her legacy -- as a teacher, a mother and a cancer survivor. She hopes to keep writing, researching and, above all, guiding young people through one of the most formative times in their lives.

"Education is a sacred responsibility. It's not just about assignments and papers. These students are facing challenges, and they need people who believe in them."