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Missouri S&T professor receives President's Award for Innovative Teaching

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Kelly Wiemann

Award recognizes outstanding faculty who employ novel and innovative teaching methods

ROLLA, Mo. – University of Missouri System Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Bob Schwartz today awarded the fifth of ten UM System President’s Awards to be presented to faculty in 2017 to Bonnie Bachman, professor and faculty fellow of economics at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Schwartz — accompanied by Missouri S&T Chancellor Cheryl Schrader and Provost Robert Marley — surprised Bachman with the award in front of colleagues gathered for a faculty meeting. The award, which includes a $5,000 prize, recognizes outstanding faculty who employ novel and innovative teaching methods to achieve success in student learning.

“My teaching philosophy has three main elements,” Bachman wrote. “To: (1) incorporate active learning elements with the end result of helping students develop more than knowledge, but skills and skill sets necessary to be successful now and after graduation, (2) give back to faculty colleagues by developing a community of practice focused on enhancing the innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum and culture; and (3) extend best practices in curriculum development and institutionalization beyond the walls of the campus.”

Bachman joined the S&T faculty in 2007 and has since been the recipient of multiple grants and awards including: 2016 Faculty Experiential Learning Award, 2013 Outstanding Teaching Award for Distance Education and a 2015 Innovation Fund-Innovation Center grant to develop a faculty curriculum development program. She has been instrumental in developing experiential interdisciplinary courses for Missouri S&T and the entrepreneurship program at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

“Bonnie works tirelessly to improve her curriculum and engagement with students and faculty,” Greg Gelles, S&T economics department chair wrote. “We are proud to have her in the department and support her efforts to integrate active and experiential learning, games and critical thinking, and assessment development into the fabric of curriculum and activities at multiple campuses in the UM System.”

Most recently, Bachman developed a new course offering (Innovation and Entrepreneurship) at the Trulaske College of Business at MU.

“With a strong reputation in the innovation and entrepreneurship fields both within higher education and in the broader corporate world, Bonnie is beyond classification as simply a top-tier professor in the academic field of innovation,” said Kathleen Dolan, Director of the execMBA Program at the Trulaske College of Business. “She is, quite simply, considered one of the absolute best.”

The UM System President’s Awards are presented annually to faculty members across the four campuses of the UM System who have made exceptional contributions in advancing the mission of the university. Bachman will be formally recognized by UM System President Mun Choi during an awards celebration to be held in June.

Chancellor Schrader and colleagues congratulate Professor Bachman. 

Reviewed 2017-04-21