Marietta, Georgia, July 18, 2019 – Life University’s (LIFE) Dr. Marla Thompson, Adjunct Professor of Business, was recently the recipient of the 2019 Vulcan Materials Company’s Teaching Excellence Award.
Established in 1991, the Vulcan Teaching Excellence Awards annually honor an outstanding professor on selected member campuses of the Georgia Independent College Association. The award recognizes an outstanding faculty member who demonstrates strong academic skills in the classroom and provides leadership and support in other areas of campus life. The recipient is a faculty member who assists the institution in nurturing an academic climate that fosters learning and provides leadership to enhance the campus community.
This year’s recipient for Life University, Thompson has created a diverse array of business classes that have both engaged and challenged her students to learn business fundamentals while also seeking new solutions to today’s unique business scenarios. In one case, some of Thompson’s students developed new projects that could possibly receive a patent one day.
Other classes that Thompson has developed and delivered include the adoption of a failing business to provide innovative ideas to improve marketing and web page design; one that allowed students to develop new products and pitch them in a panel session similar to the popular television show Shark Tank; and another that focused on Diversity in Business Operations where minority vice presidents and executives served as facilitators to discuss real-world scenarios with the students.
Tim Gross, M.S., D.C., Vice President for Academic Affairs, says, “After being recommended as one of LIFE’s most innovative instructors, it was my honor to present this year’s Vulcan Teaching Excellence Award to Dr. Thompson. In doing, loving and serving, she is dedicated to creating lasting learning experiences that connect our Life University students with a broader community in an engaging and meaningful manner.”
About her award, Dr. Thompson says, “The Vulcan Award represents Life University’s commitment to creating a classroom environment that is conducive to putting our students in the best possible position to achieve their educational goals.”
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