For those that have been following my work, I’ve been focusing on food waste reduction efforts. One of the big things we can do help remove the harmful impact of date labels is to turn waste into compost. Compost reduces food waste, it is great for plants, and it’s better for soil than harmful fertilizers. There is a new startup in Fredericksburg that is bringing composting to households and businesses in the Fredericksburg area, I want to give them a shout out so that we can support their efforts. Give them a look: http://fxbgcompost.com
Category Archives: Personal
Top 50 undergraduate business professors
Poets and Quants (a publication that focuses on business education) recently named me as one of the top 50 undergraduate business school professors of 2024. It was an honor to get this award and be nominated by my colleagues and students. These awards are given to individuals but they are a reflection of those around you. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have great graduate advisors at GWU, mentors at UMW, and lots of people around the world who helped me continually improve. I dedicate this award to my colleague and friend the late Gwen Hale who emphasized “don’t be a jerk”. You can read the article here.
The best time of the year (one of them) – Commencement
Two weeks ago I had the honor and the privilege of leading the UMW class of 2023 down campus walk for UMW’s 111th commencement. I’ve been through three commencements personally with each holding more meaning than the other (Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate). As an undergraduate it didn’t hold much meaning because it was such a big graduating class and I knew it wasn’t the end. The doctorate was a big one for me because that was it for me. Plus, my daughter was there to celebrate it with me (even though she was only 2 years old). Now that I’m faculty the commencement holds even more meaning for me because I get to see all my students graduate. I get to meet their families, and I get to look forward to one day being the parent of a college graduate.
The speakers I’ve had for commencements have been wonderful and they all imparted great advice on the graduates. There’s not much i would add to it except this, don’t wait or hold back to enjoy the moment. I didn’t enjoy my undergrad commencement as much because I didn’t know what I was going to do for the next year. I was in sales and I knew I didn’t like that very much. I didn’t enjoy my Masters graduation as much because I was worried about what my PhD would be like, I didn’t enjoy my PhD commencement because I was worried about what life would be as faculty and the tenure process. In the end everything worked out, worrying didn’t help much. I find it’s the same for most people, it all works. Enjoy the best time of the year.
Photo credits to Professor Rycroft.
Mary W. Pinschmidt Award
This past commencement I was awarded the Mary Pinschmidt Award by the Senior Class of 2021. The award was established in 1999 in honor of a long-time professor of biology and recognizes the faculty member who seniors select as the person they will most likely remember as the one who had the greatest impact on their lives. I am truly honored and humbled to have received this award. It’s been a strange four years, the strangest four year period that any of us can remember and I was just trying to get through it as best as I could. Personally, I’m not a big fan of individual awards because there’s very little that is solely due to one individual. What people don’t realize is all the people that make it possible to do the work that you do. Our Dean, Ken Machande, deserves a lot of credit for humoring my teaching and research endeavors. As does Gwen Hale who leads by example when demonstrating how to work with students. I would be remiss if I didn’t give just a bit of credit to Professor Rycroft who drags me to teaching seminars and is always available to bounce ideas off of, even at the sprite young age of 145. Lastly, all the students I’ve had really make it easy to do your best. Many years ago now I had to think of what kind of institution I wanted to be a part of, a large one with hundreds of students that was more status seeking or a more personable institution. I’ve never doubted my decision.
Titanic themed virtual escape room
My kids and I created a virtual escape room to learn more about the Titanic and to keep ourselves occupied during the pandemic. It takes about 15 minutes to complete. So far only about 25% of the people that try get off the boat on the first try. Give it a try and feel free to share: https://forms.gle/bRgC8TC1buBvteMi6
