Dickinson Senior Class Selects International Business & Management Professor to Receive Annual Award for Inspirational Teaching
Associate Professor of International Business & Management Helen Takacs in the classroom. Photo by Joe O'Neill.
THE CONSTANCE & ROSE GANOE MEMORIAL AWARD FOR INSPIRATIONAL TEACHING
by Craig Layne
Helen Takacs, associate professor of International Business & Management, has been named the 2021 recipient of Dickinson’s Constance & Rose Ganoe Memorial Award for Inspirational Teaching. She was honored with the award during Dickinson’s virtual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 23.
Voted on annually by graduating seniors and announced by the graduating class president during Commencement, the Ganoe award is the only student-bestowed faculty accolade at Dickinson. The award was established in 1969 with a bequest from the late William A. Ganoe, class of 1902.
“Winning this award during a year of remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic is especially gratifying,” said Takacs. “I applaud my students for really showing up this year and for being brave and doing their very best to overcome all the challenges that the pandemic and remote learning have presented to them.”
Takacs was instrumental in the creation of Dickinson’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) Certificate Program, which focuses on creating new products or developing new social structures to address social or environmental needs. This interdisciplinary program also marked the first time students played an active role in developing curriculum at the college.
Takacs's research explores the intersections between financial and non-financial organizational performance. She studies sustainable practices in business, business and climate change and how business can be a force for good. “This enables students to see how they can bring all of themselves, not just their financial acumen, but also their desire to make a difference in our world, to the table,” said Takacs.
Takacs, who is retiring at the end of this academic year, earned her B.A. from Bowdoin College, MBA from Cleveland State University and Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
The Ganoe award winner receives a cash honorarium plus the opportunity to use funds to purchase books for the library or educational equipment for departmental or collegewide purposes.
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Published June 3, 2021