Management School economist wins Excellence Award

Management School economist wins Excellence Award

Waikato Management School economist Dr Steven Lim has won a national award for excellence in teaching.

At parliament, Dr Lim was presented with the 2006 Tertiary Teaching Award for sustained excellence in teaching, one of ten awards made annually to outstanding tertiary teachers.

Steven Lim has been lecturing at the University of Waikato for 19 years. He also consults widely in Asia, mostly for the Asian Development Bank, and is a visiting professor at Senshu University in Tokyo.

Dr Lim said he was surprised but delighted to get the award. “I see the award primarily as recognition of the contributions of others, particularly my former teachers, whose passion for teaching and concern for students have influenced my approach to teaching,” he said.

At Waikato, students say he has a knack for making difficult concepts both interesting and easy to understand and that he has the ability to interact well in both large classes and in more intimate teaching environments. He has also written about successful teaching and given conference and workshops on teaching practice.

Acting Dean of Waikato Management School, Prof Frank Scrimgeour, said Dr Lim was another example of the exceptional calibre of faculty at the School.

“Steven is a lecturer extraordinaire,” he said. “He captures student’s attention and opens up the field of economics like no-one else I know. Steven is unique in his ability to illuminate his subject to beginning and advanced students – from those who are straight out of school to those who are senior managers enrolled in executive programmes.”

Presenting the awards, Tertiary Education Minister Dr Michael Cullen said all awardees were recognised for their innovative teaching methods, their original thinking and their outstanding commitment, by both their students and their peers within their profession.

“It is wonderful that we have such inspirational teachers and it is important to recognise them, not only for their own achievements, but also as examples to the rest of the education sector,” said Dr Cullen.

Dr Lim’s award is worth $20,000 which he plans to put towards financial support for student researchers and for continued study of teacher effectiveness.

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