Of all of UNC Greensboro’s incredible faculty, no one may have personally impacted more students’ education than Dr. Jeff Sarbaum.
He had that detail pointed out to him by a previous Dean of Undergraduate Studies. “Over the course of my 26-year career at UNCG, I have taught over 20,000 students, which, according to Andrew Hamilton, is likely more than any other faculty member in the history of UNCG,” says Sarbaum.
That astounding number is but one of the reasons the Sue W. Cole Distinguished Senior Lecturer of Economics received UNCG’s Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2025-26 academic year.
But his reach extends beyond the walls of the Bryan School of Business Building. His years of cutting-edge work on college textbooks have been a hit with business programs across the United States.
Dean Joy Bhadury adds that with his hard work and mentorship of fellow Bryan School faculty and doctoral students, Sarbaum is “helping to shape the next generation of economics educators.”
Online games, coffee, and textbooks
Long before UNCG opened its Esports Arena and established its videogaming program, Sarbaum was already exploring the potential games could have on learning.
Roughly 20 years ago, the UNCG Division of Continuing Education asked him to help develop a course for the master of liberal studies. As he helped build its 100-page website, he also designed his own Flash game to teach microeconomics.
“The game was a success, enrolling hundreds of students, and we were featured on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ and in The Boston Globe for our work,” he says.
He built upon what he learned from the game to come up more creative ways of engaging students. He made a website about the economics of coffee and fully embraced the bit, as remembered by his peer Professor Emeritus Michael Parkin from the University of Western Ontario.
“I first met Jeff Sarbaum in a video shown by a Pearson Education editor at a meeting in Boston in May 2017,” says Parkin. “He was dressed as a barista, filling coffee orders and illustrating the key economic principles of production and cost. I was immediately impressed both by the imaginative setup and the clarity of his explanations.”
His research on student performance based on the coffee website impressed textbook publisher Pearson Higher Education. It engaged Sarbaum to co-author two highly successful, digital-first multimedia textbooks, “Microeconomics Interactive and Macroeconomics Interactive.” This year, he is co-authoring the 10th edition of “Foundations of Economics” for Bade and Parkin.
“Pearson has informed me other economics titles are now working to add interactive elements to their eBooks,” says Sarbaum. “I’d like to think my co-authors and I have incentivized a trend.”
Students recall transformative classes
Sarbaum’s presence in a classroom makes all the difference — a testament repeatedly made his students and his colleagues. In 2023, Department Head Anne Royalty sat in on the course Introductory Microeconomics, which Sarbaum had to take over mid-semester. The abrupt change of instructor and the circumstances leading up to it had left many of the students anxious and defensive.
Royalty says Sarbaum began by handing out Halloween candy, cracking jokes, and telling stories about his kids. The relief of the students was palpable. She says many of them followed up at the end of the semester to say they would gladly take another class with him.
“Jeff went above and beyond the call of duty in this situation, as he often does,” says Royalty. “He did so with great aplomb and a graciousness that turned around these students’ experiences.”
But it doesn’t take extraordinary circumstances for his confidence to rub off on students. “Although I have had the opportunity to be taught by many world-class researchers and professors, I seldom have teachers as great as Professor Sarbaum,” says Francesca Pauca. She attended UNCG as a non-degree student after completing her bachelor’s at Princeton University.
Sarbaum’s teaching style was so impressive that she reached out to introduce herself after the first lecture. “It is obvious to me how deeply Professor Sarbaum wants his students to learn,” says Pauca. “He walks around the whole classroom as he lectures, making a point to address every student. I noticed him looking at students’ responses to his teaching, constantly evaluating whether they are comprehending the material or not.”
Forsyth Medical Health Care Distinguished Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Bray says praise for Sarbaum even pops up in passing conversations. “He always strives to give every student a ‘small class’ educational experience no matter how big the section is,” says Bray. “He teaches both face to face and online courses with the same commitment and is a go-to resource for the department, School, University, and the broader field.”
Another feather in his cap for accolades
Bhadury describes Sarbaum’s record as “nothing short of extraordinary,” echoing Hamilton’s observation that he has taught approximately 20,000 students.
“His student evaluations are equally impressive, with instructor and course ratings exceeding 4.0 out of 5 for nearly all sections,” Bhadury says. “This level of student satisfaction is particularly noteworthy given that Jeff teaches challenging courses like Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, which many students find difficult due to their significant quantitative content.”
Before this recognition, Sarbaum also received the Bryan School Excellence in Teaching Award and the UNCG Learning Enhancement Award. He was named a Sue W. Cole Distinguished Faculty Member and one of the University Teaching and Learning Commons outstanding teachers. His research into improving student math skills and serving community colleges was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Bhadury highlights that Sarbaum’s dedication extends not only to students, but to his fellow faculty: “A true, and rare, measure of an outstanding academic is their commitment to inculcate their own excellence in their colleagues. In that regard, Jeff’s influence extends beyond his own classroom. He has played a crucial role in mentoring and supporting graduate students and junior faculty members.”
Sarbaum is proud of all the ways he has translated complicated concepts into comprehensible scenarios so that his many students would hold their heads high while crossing the stage at graduation.
“Teaching economics presents the challenge of conveying abstract mathematical and graphical models in ways that are accessible and engaging,” he says. “I’ve met this challenge by embracing the oldest form of teaching there is: storytelling. Whether writing scripts for an educational video game, creating an interactive website, teaching in the classroom, or presenting at a conference, I start each new topic with a story.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Bert Vanderveen, Vanderveen Photography
