Students selected Lecturer of the Year in Helsinki and Vaasa

The Student Union at Hanken School of Economics has appointed Taija Townsend Lecturer of the Year 2014 in Helsinki. Townsend is Lecturer in English. The award was announced during the Student Union’s annual ball in February.

The title Lecturer of the Year traditionally goes to a lecturer who motivates and inspires the students through his or her teaching. Taija Townsend is referred to as a passionate and inspiring lecturer who succeeds in motivating the students while giving them constructive feedback. She is also described as a teacher who can motivate the students to both improve and challenge themselves.

“I was very honoured to receive the award especially since I have been working at Hanken for such a short time”, says Taija Townsend. “I really enjoy working with students and so, to my mind, this is the best possible award I could ever receive.  The award has really inspired me and I am already planning new courses together with my colleagues at the Centre for Languages and Business Communication.”

In the autumn, the Students’ Association in Vaasa also appointed Lecturer of the Year 2014. The title, which was announced during the Association’s annual ball, was awarded to Christian Johansson, Lecturer in Statistics. Johansson is a lecturer that most students in Vaasa meet during their first year of studies. The title was awarded for his ability to make the students suddenly see the connection, the probability or the logic in the formulas he is teaching.

“I often say that when I started working at Hanken I realised, to my own surprise, that I am teacher at heart and not a researcher. Since then I’ve had the privilege to teach a lot, and because of that this title really makes me happy. I especially like the reason for awarding me the title since it summarises in a nutshell what I try to achieve with my teaching”, says Christian Johansson.