Gary Fleischman
Gary Fleischman is a professor who is noted for his devotion to teaching and caring for his students.
Fleischman, the McGee Hearne and Paiz Faculty Scholar in Accounting and an associate professor in the UW Department of Accounting, is the recipient of this year's Hollon Family Award for Teaching Excellence in Off Campus Programs. In 1986, C.E. "Jerry" Hollon, former UW trustee, established the award to recognize "contributions to the general extension outreach programs of the university."
Professor Penne Ainsworth, head of the Department of Accounting, immediately recognized Fleischman's ability to inspire those around him.
"I liked and respected him as a colleague due to his enthusiasm for undergraduate and graduate teaching, his commitment to scholarship and his willingness to help the department reach its goals," Ainsworth writes in a nomination letter.
"While he prefers to teach tax, which is his area of specialization, he has always made it clear to me that he will teach whatever I need him to, and furthermore, he will do it without complaining," Ainsworth adds. "The unique thing about Gary is that it does not seem to matter whether he is teaching 'live' on campus or online, he has the ability to make the students feel connected."
An Outreach School student in Casper says Fleischman provided her with an online learning experience "as rich as those I have experienced in a classroom."
"As expected, Gary went above and beyond my expectations of an online c1ass," says Dawn Vertner, an accounting graduate candidate. She says Fleischman provided all online students DVDs with his lectures and homework discussions.
"From my experience, Gary is among the best professors, both traditional and online, that the University of Wyoming has to offer," Vertner says.
Another of his students comments that Fleischman's "real life" experiences assist in his teaching.
"These experiences allowed Dr. Fleischman to bring a current perspective into his teaching," says Luke Schneider. "All too often professors talk about research and theory, while failing to explain how their courses relate to the real world. Dr. Fleischman used both research and real world scenarios to instill in his students an understanding of the practice of accounting."
At times, online courses can be difficult to translate from traditional classroom courses, one of Fleischman's colleagues says.
"Because of his tremendous efforts in providing his online students a classroom experience, the investment of time and energy beyond the norm in this area, his ability to make students love to learn more about taxes, and most of all, because of his students' enthusiastic endorsement, I believe Gary is especially deserving of this award," says a colleague.
Fleischman received his B.S. and M.S.A. degrees from California State University Chico, M.S.T. from San Jose State University and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University.
Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009