Each year, Sam Houston State University (SHSU) presents their esteemed "Excellence in Teaching" award which recognizes an elite faculty member for their teaching. This year SHSU presented the award to Red Raider alumnus, Ronny Daigle.
Daigle, who currently serves as a professor of accounting at SHSU, earned two degrees
from Texas Tech, first his Master of Science degree in Accounting in 1999, followed
by his doctorate in Business Administration in 2002.
He strongly believes that his education at Texas Tech helped shape him as an educator.
"Many faculty, especially James Lampe (my dissertation chair), impressed upon me the
importance of being my best in all I do as an academic, whether it be research, teaching
or service," explained Daigle. "It was also impressed upon me to seek synergy between
these three areas. This is something I have tried to keep in mind throughout my career,
especially with improving my teaching."
Daigle was selected from hundreds of nominations by a committee that is appointed
directly by the SHSU president. The committee considers a number of different factors
when making their selection including student evaluations and teaching quality assessments.
It is no secret that Daigle is one of the most innovative instructors on the SHSU
campus, as one of Daigle's nominators wrote, "He is a teaching innovator through his
multi-media presentations, bringing the 'real world' into the classroom by securing
as guest lecturers the actual individuals who are the subjects of the case studies
in textbooks."
One of the most important lessons Daigle learned at Texas Tech was that faculty have
the ability to positively impact all students, regardless of whether or not they are
in your class.
"The faculty as a whole taught me the importance of being a most caring, passionate
and dedicated teacher not only in the classroom, but in the hallways, my office, at
a campus sports event, wherever I see a student," he said.
Daigle said he carries the lessons he learned at Texas Tech with him as he goes about
his teaching career.
"I am humbled and honored to receive this award. At the same time, I feel a sense
of responsibility because I still plan on teaching for a very long time," Daigle said.
"I am years away from retiring. I hope I can live up to the expectations and be a
good steward of this award. It's a responsibility I am more than willing and happy
to shoulder."
Learn more about Daigle's award from SHSU here .