Marketing professor a finalist for national teaching excellence award

by Sheila Yancy

Richard Beltramini, professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration, was named one of three finalists for the 2011 Marketing Management Association (MMA) Master Teacher Award.  MMA is a worldwide organization of both business people and academics who are involved in marketing.

The award is sponsored by Hormel Foods Corp., a multinational manufacturer of brand-name food and meat products based in Austin, Minn. Finalists for the teaching excellence award were selected based on written submissions to the competition.

“I'm particularly honored to find myself a finalist,” said Beltramini, “given the many other marketing instructors around who are also doing a great job preparing students for careers.”

Beltramini submitted a summary of a program he initiated called what box, a student-run marketing communications agency that helped start-up businesses at Wayne State University's TechTown.

“The business start-ups we supported indicated they found our support significant,” said Beltramini.  He said his students benefited from the real world experience which enhanced their employment options after graduation.  “We all learned something in the process.”

Beltramini believes many instructional programs tout their goal of providing practical, applications-based learning, but fewer find unique ways to make this actually happen.  He thinks this may be one reason his written submission made an impression with the association.

“I strongly believe in challenging my students to integrate their classroom instruction and apply their learning to real business problem solving,” he said.

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