Ken Weaver was announced the new interim executive director of The National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) Monday afternoon in Visser Hall during a press conference held by Emporia State. The NTHF Board of Trustees asked Weaver to step in until a new executive director is selected, according to the press release. 

Weaver is set to begin his duties on July 1, with his contract set to go through December 2022. 

Carol Strickland will be retiring after serving nine and a half years as current executive director of NTHF and says she hopes to see Weaver step into the position on a permanent basis. 

“Well, he’s perfect because he has knowledge,” Strickland said. “It’s amazing the number of people who would apply for the position who had no contact with education, who don’t have a background in it. But he has all of that. He checks all the boxes. If you could draw a perfect candidate it would be Ken Weaver.” 

Weaver says his focus is on trying to find the best candidate for the job.

After joining ESU faculty in 1986, Weaver has served as director of the Honors program and department chair and dean of the Teachers College. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and chaired The NTHF Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2019. 

“Ultimately I’m a teacher,” Weaver said. “I’m really looking forward to working with the students at Emporia State University and the students around the state and faculty around the state.”

Weaver says he has a lot of goals for his term and is looking forward to educating people about The NTHF.

“The rhetorical question here is, ‘I wonder how many people know about The National Teachers Hall of Fame?’” Weaver said. “Well, there should be nobody at least in Kansas who doesn’t know. But the reality is that there probably is. So here’s a teaching moment.”