Officer, Gentleman, and Scholar

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Kurt Barthel is a police officer, a husband, a father, and a professor. His gentle demeanor belies the fact that he has been on more drug busts than any fictional detective you might name. His on-the-job brushes with danger would make the writers of Law & Order turn pale. Kurt has dealt with everything from motorcycle gangs to drug kingpins, working to eliminate the narcotics trade both locally and internationally.

Thoughtful, funny, disarming, and dedicated, Kurt began his law enforcement career with the military police when he was a nineteen-year–old in the Air Force. After serving four years of active service and twenty-two years in the Reserves, he eventually retired as a Special Agent with the Office of Special Investigations. Kurt served his country in Vietnam and in the aftermath of 9/11.

Kurt’s first class at SOU was in 1973; he completed his degree in 2001. He has served his university as an adjunct professor and advisor to many aspiring law enforcement students. He counts his greatest achievement as his thirty-year marriage to his wife, Barbara, and his three very successful daughters, Stephanie Barthel (Class of 2001), Lyndsay Barthel Huffman, and Sara Barthel Corbett. It was with great pride and enthusiasm that the SOU Alumni Board unanimously named Kurt the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

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