Small Town - Big Dreams

A new feature each month on a our new website is called "Small Town - Big Dreams".  This feature will highlight former WHS students and how their lives have progressed after graduating from Waverly High School.  If you would like to nominate former WHS students to be featured in the coming months, please contact Doug Piper (dpiper@usd243ks.org or 785-733-2561).

The first, in a monthly series of “Small Town - Big Dreams”, features Waverly High grad Lori Peek.  This 1993 WHS grad shows us how the location of your education is not near as important as what you do with that education!  Take a look at what “Pickle” has been up to since graduating from Waverly High.

CU Boulder sociology professor Lori Peek and new director of the Natural Hazards Research Center. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)

Name:  Lori Peek
Current City/Address:  Boulder, CO  

Year of High School Graduation: 1993

Post Secondary Education Degree, College/Program of Attendance

2005 Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology

University of Colorado Boulder

Dissertation Title: “The Identity of Crisis: Muslim Americans after September 11”

1999 Master of Education

Colorado State University

1997 Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

Ottawa University Summa Cum Laude

1996 Summer Study Abroad Program

Nottingham Trent University – Nottingham, England

Employment and Job description

Professor, Department of Sociology

Director, Natural Hazards Center

University of Colorado Boulder

Most interesting part of you job (current or past)

I love my job so much, and I find every day interesting and full of new adventures! My research has taken me all over the world to many disaster-affected regions, including to New York City after 9/11, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Joplin after the 2011 tornado, New Zealand after the Christchurch earthquake, New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy, and North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew, among many other places. In addition to my research, I also teach classes, ranging from a 12 student graduate seminar to courses of over 400 students for introduction to sociology! I love my work, and I would not have this opportunity to serve through my research and teaching were it not for the K-12 education that I received in Waverly Public Schools.

Educational and occupational Honors and Accomplishments

Over the years, I have been honored to to receive awards for my scholarship, teaching, and service to the discipline. What I am most proud of, however, is my present and former students, and all of the amazing things they have gone on to do with their lives. A list of various awards I’ve received is included below, but please know, the list should actually run for pages and pages if it recognized all the people who have *helped me along the way* to receive this recognition. As such, please know I don’t think of these as my awards, but instead as a reflection of the wonderful teachers and mentors and family that I have.  

2017 Outstanding Achievement Award, Ottawa University Alumni Association

2016 Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award for Children of Katrina, American Sociological Association Section on Children and Youth

2016 Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award for Children of Katrina, Association for Humanist Sociology

2016 Board of Governor’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, Colorado State University System

2016 Distinguished Scholar, National Science Foundation Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, Post-Doctoral Socio-Environmental Immersion Program, University of Maryland

2016 Honorable Mention, Leo Goodman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sociological Methodology, American Sociological Association Section on Methodology

2016 Finalist, Colorado Book Awards for Children of Katrina, Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book

2015 Ann Gill Excellence in Teaching Award, College of Liberal Arts, Colorado State University

2013 Best Book Award for Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans after 9/11, American Sociological Association Section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity

2012 President’s Award for Volunteer Service, Natural Hazards Mitigation Association

2012 Distinguished Book Award for Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans after 9/11, Midwest Sociological Society

2011 Choice’s Compilation of Significant University Press Titles for Undergraduates, 2010-11, Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans after 9/11

2011 Teaching Fellow, The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT), Colorado State University

2011 Nominated for the Margaret B. Hazaleus Award for “Enhancing the Campus Environment for Women,” Colorado State University

2010 Professor of the Year, Colorado State University Greek Life and the Panhellenic Council

2009 Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship, American Sociological Association Section on Children and Youth

2008 Outstanding Advisor Award, Colorado State University Muslim Student Association

2008 Outstanding Faculty Member Designation, Colorado State University Greek Life and the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils

2007 Best Teacher Award, Colorado State University Alumni Association and the Student Alumni Connection

2007 Excellence in Teaching Award, Colorado State University College of Liberal Arts

2007 Waterpik Excellence in Education Award, Colorado State University Athletics

2007 Outstanding Faculty Member Designation, Colorado State University Greek Life and the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils

2006 Nominated for the Outstanding Faculty Effort Award, Colorado State University Office of Resources for Disabled Students

2004 First Place, Student Paper Competition, Association of Professional Emergency Planners

2004 Outstanding Doctoral Student Mentor Award, McNair Post-Baccalaureate Scholars Program, University of Colorado

2003 Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado    

2003 Highest Honors, Social Psychology Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam, University of Colorado

2002 Blaine E. Mercer Outstanding Departmental Service Award, University of Colorado

1998 Rainey Bookstore National Scholarship Essay Winner, Colorado State University

1997 Highest Honors, Senior Sociology Thesis, Ottawa University

1996 Jerry Cambell Cross-Cultural Scholarship Recipient, Ottawa University

1995-97 Carol Sandstrom Outstanding Social Sciences Student Award, Ottawa University

You most fond memory of your time at Waverly High School?

This is impossible to answer, as I loved being in high school. Looking back now, I realize how truly fortunate I was to attend a small school that offered personalized education to every student. Thanks to the amazing teachers at Waverly High School, I learned how to write, how to think, and how to be a better person while in school. I deeply admired all of my teachers and coaches, and I find myself often drawing on lessons I learned from them, now that I am a professor. I also had so much fun with my classmates (all 16 of us who graduated in 1993!), not only in the classroom, but also as part of the extracurricular activities that we took part in. When you go to a small school, everyone needs to be involved so you can have a team, so that creates a really special feeling of togetherness that I will always treasure.

Advice to current WHS Students

Get involved and take advantage of every opportunity. Waverly may be a “small school” but it is mighty in terms of all that it offers students. You have the chance to know your teachers, to know the staff, and to get involved in all kinds of activities. High school goes by so quickly, and so take advantage of every moment. It seems like in life, people rarely regret the things they did, but they often regret the things they did not do. Live without regret, and go for it!