Awards

W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service - 1990

About Brenda E. Knowles

Brenda E. Knowles received a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Evansville, an M.A. from Miami University, and a J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington. The first woman to attain tenure and full rank in the School of Business and Economics, she is professor emerita of business law at Indiana University South Bend. She has been the recipient of two system-wide, all-university teaching awards, the Amoco Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award and the Wilbert Hites Distinguished Teaching Award for Mentorship. In addition to being a charter member of FACET, the all-university faculty colloquium on excellence in teaching and learning in the academic community, she has received numerous other system-wide and school citations for excellence in teaching. In 1997, the Student Association at Indiana University South Bend chose her as the campus’s “Outstanding Educator.” From 1995 to 2006, Professor Knowles served as the director of the campus’s Honors Program (a position theretofore always held by liberal arts faculty members).

Professor Knowles specializes in research on employment discrimination, pedagogy, immigration reform, and intellectual property law. She publishes her work in professional journals and has won both external and internal awards for her research. In addition, she has been recognized both nationally and locally for her professional and civic accomplishments, most recently through the W. George Pinnell Award for outstanding service to Indiana University.