Professor Andy Hoffman was honored today as a recipient of the 2017 Ideas Worth Teaching Awards for his class on Sustainable Business in Iceland offered through Global Initiatives at the Ross School of Business.
Jerry Davis and Chris White, also professors at the Ross School of Business were similarly honored for their course on Intrapreneurship: Leading Social Innovation in Organizations.
Press Release – Announcing the 2017 Ideas Worth Teaching Award Winners
NEW YORK, NY, May 8th, 2018 – Following on a tradition of recognizing innovative business professors since 1999, this year the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program is awarding 20 exceptional courses that inspire and equip future business leaders to tackle the issues of our time.
The Ideas Worth Teaching Awards honor extraordinary teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels that is redefining excellence in business education – and ultimately in business practice.
Upon receiving the award Andy Hoffman commented,
“I am truly honored to be receiving this award, both for its own sake, and also for the impressive company of other award winners.
While I’ve taught business sustainability in many formats, being able to bring students to Iceland brought the subject matter to life in a novel and compelling way. Given its location at the fault line between the European and North American tectonic plates, and its unparalleled access to geothermal energy, Iceland finds itself in a uniquely opportunistic position. However, there are tough questions still to grapple with, namely how Iceland can harness this energy in a way that both feeds its economy and helps it reduce its carbon footprint.
It was an absolute pleasure to share the concept and promise of business sustainability with an undergraduate group of students. Their questions and comments were on point, and it was fun for me to see their excitement as they quickly began to grasp the scope of the opportunity and possibilities for business to be a positive force in society.”
Syllabi for these award-winning courses and additional details about the teaching approaches are available online at www.ideasworthteachingawards.org. Full biographies of the winners and the selection criteria for the award are also available on this site.
The Ideas Worth Teaching Awards were established to celebrate curricula that bring to life the promise of meaningful work in business – showing students the “choice points” available to firms and managers in realms like sustainability or the future of work. This year’s winning courses focus on critical social issues ripped from the headlines – populism, water scarcity and artificial intelligence among them – and illuminate how and why these issues are business issues. Collectively, these courses paint a picture of what is possible in management education
“At a time when business leaders face intense scrutiny about their role in social issues, these award-winning faculty are bravely challenging the ‘norms’ of what is taught in business school—and creating leaders who can navigate a highly uncertain environment,” explains Claire Preisser, Associate Director of Aspen BSP.
The Ideas Worth Teaching Award winners will be recognized at Working Towards Shared Prosperity: An Academic-Executive Dialogue, a convening in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Oct. 26-27, co-hosted by Aspen BSP and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. This invite-only gathering will bring together approximately 75 faculty and business practitioners to promote and build a body of knowledge around job creation, job quality and economic security.
A record number of award nominations were submitted by respected academics, business leaders and students from around the world. Award winners were selected by Aspen Institute staff in consultation with academic advisers: Professor Bruce Buchanan, Stern School of Business, New York University; Professor Maureen Scully, University of Massachusetts, Boston; and Dean Peter Tufano, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
The Aspen Institute is proud to recognize the achievements of these award winners and share their course curricula and pedagogies with our global network of faculty, deans, and business practitioners.