Dr. Vidyaranya B. Gargeya, a professor of information systems and operations management and director of the Bryan MBA program, is among 17 outstanding faculty members selected by the UNC Board of Governors to receive the 14th Annual Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The faculty members were nominated on their home campuses and selected by the BOG Committee on Personnel and Tenure. Each will receive a bronze medallion and a $7,500 cash prize during a luncheon, held in conjunction with the board’s May 9 meeting in Chapel Hill. Presenters will be President Erskine Bowles and BOG Chair Jim Phillips.

Gargeya engages students with live case studies, interactive guest speakers and written exams that provide students with real-life business experiences in the classroom.

In 2006, he received a UNCG Alumni Teaching Excellence Award.

According to a student nominator, “He does not teach to make a living. He lives to teach.”

Gargeya received his baccalaureate at Andhra University in India, his postgraduate diploma in management at the Indian Institute of Management and his doctorate in business administration from Georgia State University.

Before Bryan MBA students begin their first class with Gargeya, they are presented with his Memorandum of Understanding which outlines – in detail – their responsibilities for the course as well as what they can expect of their professor. “I spend a lot of time preparing for class so that when I enter the classroom I bring my best and I expect my students to do the same,” he said.

His commitment to his students does not end when the final grades are posted. As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, he also offers a Service Guarantee. “Once students complete my course, any topic covered in the class is open for discussion for the rest of their lives. They can email or call me and I will respond within 24 hours,” he said.

Over his 13 years at UNCG, many students have taken him up on the offer. “As long as it is knowledge for knowledge’s sake, I really enjoy reconnecting with former students. It’s what keeps me going,” he said. Another clause in his Service Guarantee, which students take him up on much sooner and much more regularly, is that he will write a letter of recommendation for any student who passes his course.

“I got into teaching by design, not by accident,” he said. “I was working in the petroleum industry in India and teaching part-time. I loved teaching so much that I decided to come to the U.S. to pursue my doctorate.”

After completing a year of graduate studies at Georgia State, he started teaching MBA-level courses.

He has not stopped since.

-May 2008