During Lee University’s virtual Homecoming celebrations earlier this month, Chris Hansen was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for the Department of Language and Literature.
“Years before becoming an award-winning filmmaker and department chair at a major university, Chris Hansen was an intellectually curious and ambitious literary scholar and creative writer whom I've been honored to call my friend for over 30 years,” said Dr. Andrew Lee, professor of English at Lee. “With his characteristic self-effacing modesty, one wonders if Chris Hansen realizes how many awards his films have won and how much he has achieved already. He is without question imminently worthy of our department's alum of the year award.”
Mr. Hansen received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Lee College in 1992 before going on to receive a Master of Arts in communication and a Master of Fine Arts in script and screenwriting from Regent University. He was nominated by a committee composed of faculty and alumni in Lee’s Department of Language and Literature.
“Even as a freshman in my composition class, Chris was clearly exceptional,” said Dr. Donna Summerlin, department chair. “A founding member of our Sigma Tau Delta English honor society, he was actively engaged with the department and the discipline throughout his time at Lee. Our department is proud of his accomplishments and happy to honor him with this award.”
Mr. Hansen is an award-winning writer and director. His feature films have screened at festivals throughout the United States and Canada, have been released theatrically in Los Angeles and New York, and have been reviewed in the LA Times, The Village Voice, and the LA Weekly, among others. His films include “The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah,” “Endings,” “Where We Started,” “Blur Circle,” and “Seven Short Films About (Our) Marriage.”
Mr. Hansen is the inaugural chair of the Department of Film and Digital Media at Baylor University, where he has been on faculty since 2004 and became a full professor in 2017. He teaches courses in screenwriting, directing, and the future of narrative storytelling. He resides in Robinson, Texas, with his wife, Sherry, also a Lee alum.
To learn more about Hansen’s work, visit http://www.hansenfilms.com/.