Dr. Placido "Art" Hoernicke, professor emeritus of special education and English for Speakers of Other Languages at Fort Hays State University, has been named by his Head Start colleagues as the 2009 Humanitarian of the Year for Kansas, for the Region VII Head Start Association and for the National Head Start Association.

The award was based on Hoernicke's work with Head Start programs in Kansas. He was nominated by the Hays Area Head Start Program. The National Head Start Association represents more than one million children, 200,000 staff and 2,600 Head Start programs in the United States.