David Dumpe is a non-tenure-track professor of Finance in the College of Business. He received his Ph.D. from Kent State University in 1996 with a major in finance and a minor in International Economics. He is responsible for upper division undergraduate and graduate courses in financial management.He coordinates all of the sections of basic financial management courses and is the finance internship coordinator.His professional teaching actually began in 1976 when he was an Instructor Navigator in the US Air Force - Strategic Air Command where he taught navigation theory and evaluated student performance during both simulator and actual airborne training missions. After his military duty, he spent seven years as Vice President and General Mananger in his father´s automotive business. He sold that business and became Executive Vice President of administration and finance for Story & Clark Pianos Inc. He was a teaching fellow at Kent while he worked on his doctorate. After receiving his Ph.D. from Kent he taught at several academic institutions before returning to Kent as a visiting professor

Richard J. Curcio is a professor of Finance in the College of Business. He received his Ph.D. in Finance and B.S. in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has a wide range of teaching and research interests. Dr. Curcio served as Chairperson of Kent State University's Department of Finance and Public Administration from 1975-1983. Prior to coming to Kent, he was an administrator in the mathematics department of Pennsylvania State University and a research chemist with the Beryllium Corporation. During his time at Kent State, Dr. Curcio has organized and conducted executive training sessions for such companies and organizations as the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the Goodyear Aerospace Corporation and Salem Community Hospital. Dr. Curcio firmly believes that coupling practical experience with the teaching theory is the most effective approach to the teaching of business.

Dr. Buchi Felix Offodile, professor of operations management and chair of the Department of Management and Information Systems, is this year’s recipient.Offodile teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has a wide range of teaching and research interests including the areas of technology assessment, manufacturing automation, quality management and resource and supply chain management. His research has been published in several academic journals. Although much of Offodile’s more than 20 years of teaching experience has been at the university level, he is active in the community and also teaches at K-12 schools, churches, libraries and other organizations where he shares his experiences with students of all ages. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Offodile has written The Orphan Girl, a unique book filled with 260 pages of a collection of 41 stories from each of the West African countries.

Michael Mayo, Acting Chair of the Marketing Department, conducts research in the areas of marketing ethics, international marketing, and sales management. In ethics, he has examined the decision-making process underlying how marketing managers and consumers resolve moral dilemmas. His work with Cathy Goodwin (University of Manitoba) on how sales representatives cope with the loss of a major account won the "BEST PAPER" award at the 1993 American Marketing Association conference. A Ph.D. from Kent State University and completed post-doctoral studies at the University of California - Berkley. Dr. Mayo teaches in the doctoral, MBA, undergraduate and executive programs. Mayo’s students give him high ratings in communicating enthusiasm in class. His students comment that he brings current and real-life examples to class and keeps them informed of job opportunities.

Kathryn Wilson received her Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Wisconsin. Her primary teaching interests are microeconomics, public economics, and labor economics. She has done research in a number of different areas, including educational attainment, teen out-of-wedlock births, disability, and retirement.