Heritage Hall is pleased to announce that Upper School Social Studies teacher Dr. Chris Hamel has been awarded the 2020-21 Battey National Educator Award by the DePauw University Honors Scholar Program. Established in 2008, the award recognizes educators who have made a difference in the lives of DePauw's senior honors scholars students. 

Described by Head of School Nick Carter as a “true scholar, mentor, educator, and gentleman,” Hamel has been an esteemed member of the Upper School Social Studies department since 2009. The same year, Hamel established the School’s nationally recognized Model United Nations program, which he continues to lead. Additionally, Hamel served five years as director of the Heritage Hall Independent Studies Program. 

Hamel was nominated for the award by DePauw senior and Heritage Hall alumna Maggie Ephraim '17. In her nomination, Ephraim, who is majoring in English writing and minoring in Ancient Greek, wrote: “Hamel is a tough, but fair, teacher who is passionate about both the history he teaches and the success of his students, in the classroom and beyond. Through my classroom and independent study experiences, Dr. Hamel not only helped me become a more confident writer, but he also increased my self-confidence as a scholar. It is in part due to his encouragement that I have become the writer, traveler, and scholar that I am today. I am thankful for his support as a mentor and as a friend.”

In recognition of his honor, Hamel will receive a plaque and monetary award, as well as a grant to be applied to the Heritage Hall program of his choosing.

Upon hearing of his nomination and subsequent selection, Hamel replied, “I was ecstatic and genuinely humbled by Maggie’s kind gesture. Then to be named the recipient of this prestigious award … no words can adequately express what it means to me. In addition to the great satisfaction I receive each year from teaching young people like Maggie at Heritage Hall, being awarded the Battey National Educator Award constitutes the high point in my career as an educator.”