University of La Verne Professor Awarded for Management Teaching Contributions

An international teaching society has named University of La Verne Associate Professor of Management Dr. Kathy Duncan a recipient of the 2017 Mid-Career Distinguished Educator Award.

The Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (OBTS), which is dedicated to enhancing teaching and learning across management disciplines, will announce the award at its annual conference in June in Rhode Island.

“I feel very honored to have been selected,” Duncan said. “OBTS is an organization of academic colleagues who I admire greatly and who are first and foremost passionate about teaching.”

Duncan has been at the University of La Verne since 2002, teaching and developing classes in conflict management and organizational change, management of diversity in the workplace, and organizational research, among other subjects. She is also an alumna, earning her Master of Science in Leadership and Management, as well as her Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership.

She received the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016 and the Ellsworth Johnson Faculty Service Award in 2012.

Duncan served as a member of OBTS’ board for two years, and was the site coordinator for its conference at the University of La Verne in 2015. She has also presented organizational and leadership concepts at the group’s conference.

“This award acknowledges a mid-career management educator who has an established and well-respected record of innovative teaching, exemplary service leadership to our Society, and impactful intellectual contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning,” said Dr. Micheal Stratton, who serves on OBTS’ board of directors.

Duncan says she is known for highly interactive teaching, encouraging students to connect theory to practice.

“Students tell me that I am good at breaking down complex content into ways that make them understandable,” she said.