The University of Akron asked professors to create a short video for high school students explaining various topics that we teach or do research in.

Due to my research interest in cross-cultural consumer behavior, I chose to create a video on the importance of different cultures around the world and how they affect company’s marketing strategies. The idea was to keep it short, simple, and easy for lay people to understand.

One night during the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, Pat and I were bored at home. I found an article about a chemistry professor in Cleveland teaching her students how to make Indian food virtually. So, I asked my friends if anyone wanted to learn to make Thai food and we started our virtual Thai cooking classes every Saturday nights. Because I use my University of Akron WebEx account to host this cooking class, I felt that I should invite other people on campus to participate in the event as my WebEx account can host up to 1,000 people at a time. Most people loved it and came back for the next class. It’s free to anyone but we also encourage people to donate to the Akron-Canton food bank.

The Akron Beacon Journal wrote a story about our virtual cooking classes (see the link below).

You can read the article in the link HERE

Faculty Engagement Award
The Faculty Engagement Award is presented annually to an outstanding faculty member who has gone out of their way to engage students inside and outside the classroom to create an enhanced learning environment. This award highlights a faculty member who has gone above and beyond the normal student-teacher interaction and has thus shown a personal interest in the growth of their students’ lives.

This year I was nominated and won the Faculty Engagement Award. Considering that there are many other outstanding faculty who have gone out of their way to help students at the University of Akron, I am very honored to receive this award.