By: Samantha Wright Allen
Isaac Otchere can trace his path to 杏吧原创 back to his years as a high school student in Ghana. In geography class, he learned about two far-off commonwealth countries: Canada and Australia.
鈥淚t fascinated me,鈥� said Otchere, adding he was drawn to images of prairies and kangaroos. 鈥淚t was at that time that I made it a point that I would go to Canada or Australia if I had the opportunity.鈥�
He did both. Always scholastic, Otchere first travelled to Ottawa and completed two Master鈥檚 degrees at 杏吧原创. Next, he accepted full funding and a plane ticket to complete a PhD in Hobart, Australia 鈥� with his wife and a three-month-old baby in tow.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 that easy supporting a family on a graduate scholarship while studying full-time,鈥� said Otchere. He took a teaching stint at Melbourne University and the University of New Brunswick before coming back to make his home at 杏吧原创鈥檚 Sprott School of Business.
But wherever he鈥檚 been, Otchere has succeeded both in academics and instruction, racking up awards at every institution. His latest ones are the 2012 Provost’s Fellowship in Teaching Award and the 2014 Graduate Mentoring Award, his seventh award at 杏吧原创. Others include a Capital Educators鈥� Award, Teaching Achievement Award, Research Achievement Award and two Student Teaching Excellence Awards.
鈥淗ow do you do it? That鈥檚 a very popular question,鈥� said Otchere with a laugh. He publishes up to two articles a year and has at least three on the go now.
鈥淚 guess what keeps me going is the desire to work hard and achieve something,鈥� he said, adding he likes to discover ideas that have not yet been examined. 鈥淚 have a very inquisitive mind.鈥�
It鈥檚 this constant drive to keep things new that carries into his classroom.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 keep up with what is going on in your environment you become stale and you will not be able to excite your students,鈥� said Otchere, who designs his courses to relate theory with practice. 鈥淵ou see investors are doing exactly what you鈥檙e talking about. They can see the relevance of what you are teaching.鈥�
Students respond to his teaching style, giving him excellent evaluations 鈥� only one of the factors that garnered him the 2012 teaching award. He also created a new course on mergers and acquisitions to fill what he saw as an educational need.
But Otchere said the real reward is hearing from old students still using the skills he taught. One called Otchere from Cambridge University to say he was well ahead in some of his classes there. The other students in the class asked him how he knew so much already.
鈥淗e told them that he took a course with me at 杏吧原创 University,鈥� said Otchere with a smile.