King Fellow Award 2016

King Fellow Citation 2016 - Ruth May

Suppose a person is walking toward a powerful whirlpool in a body of water. On the periphery that person can safely wade and even walk away, but at some point as the person continues to approach the center of the downwardly spiraling water, he or she can no longer escape the maelstrom and is pulled into the abyss. What determines that point? And how is this scenario like the institutional and economic structures of some of the world’s powers? Is there a point of no return in their collapse as well?

This is the kind of deep question addressed in both the scholarly work and pedagogy of this year’s King Fellow. Disciplinary and international boundaries just do not exist as this stellar teacher and prolific researcher addresses such diverse issues as international business and global strategies in Russia, India, China, and the United Kingdom, designs award winning pedagogy and best practices in online teaching, and tackles diversity issues at work in a book entitled “Bridging Diversity Barriers: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.” Moreover, the teaching is often done on international and national study trips—Russia, Ireland, Prague, and Washington, DC. are just some of the locations and subjects of these learning adventures with students, and the research has been accomplished through collaborations too many to mention, but are often ones that contain UD colleagues. The scholarship is widely published in prestigious journals and books, and the expertise has been sought by over 50 companies including such big name corporations as Microsoft and Nokia. 

Colleagues view our Fellow as a leader among faculty, always willing to serve or take on leadership roles at either the college or University level, and as a mentor to younger faculty having been known to do such things as give up an entire Saturday helping a new teacher develop online materials for the first time. Our Fellow’s wealth of experience and knowledge of finance have made committees related to faculty salaries and benefits an almost continuous area of service, but a quick perusal of the rosters of the AACSB accreditation committees, the University’s standing committees, and the College of Business strategic planning and development committees shows that finance is not close to the limit of our Fellow’s expertise.

Our King Fellow is known as a tough but fair teacher and is consistently seen as one of the best teachers by students in the College of Business. One MBA graduate commented that, “her online classes are simply amazing. Their structure and organization should serve as a paradigm for online learning.” Furthermore, our Fellow is always willing to try something new to offer opportunities for our students, as is exemplified with her recent willingness to develop new courses for undergraduates after teaching at the graduate level for many years.

This year’s King Fellow serves her profession, her University, and her Church as a strong advocate for justice and has chosen to live her life guided by a quote frequently told her by her father, "Justice rides a slow horse but she always crosses the finish line." Please join me in congratulating our 2016 King Fellow – Dr. Ruth May.