Professor Don Buryanek receives SNB’s Teaching Excellence Award

WAYNE, NEBRASKA (May 4, 2019) – Mr. Don Buryanek, assistant professor of industrial technology and applied science at Wayne State College, received the State Nebraska Bank & Trust Teaching Excellence Award.  Matt Ley, Chief Executive Officer of State Nebraska Bank & Trust in Wayne, presented the award at commencement on May 4, 2019.  Buryanek also retired from Wayne State College after 30 years of service.  He earned both his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Wayne State.

Buryanek began teaching for the college in 1989.  He taught manufacturing, mechanical and architectural drafting, surveying and print reading, cabinetmaking, Level 1 Networking, and solid modeling.  Buryanek also served as the advisor of the Industrial Technology Club and SkillsUSA, a partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.  His teaching and research interests included computer-aided design, mechanical and architectural drafting, animation and rendering, and technology and society.  During his time at Wayne State, Buryanek served on all but one faculty committee on campus.  Outside of campus, he serves as the chair of the Wayne Nebraska Area Habitat for Humanity.

David Ley, the bank’s Chairman of the Board, established the State Nebraska Bank & Trust Teaching Excellence Award in 1998 as a way of recognizing and strengthening outstanding teaching at Wayne State.  State Nebraska Bank & Trust supports the college in many ways such as funding scholarships and capital improvements, hiring college students as tellers, and having bank employees serve on the Wayne State Foundation Board of Trustees. This prestigious honor is awarded based on rigorous standards that require a superior level of effective teaching.

Congratulations Professor Buryanek!