Jun 14, 2022
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 14, 2022) – The University of Kentucky Alumni Association started the Great Teacher Award program in 1961 to honor excellent teaching at the university. There have been over 300 teachers honored since that first year. Nominations may only be submitted by current students.
To receive the award, a candidate must:
- Hold the rank of full-time lecturer or above and have been a member of the faculty for the past three years at UK.
- Have superior knowledge of the subject matter.
- Have original and innovative classroom presentations.
- Demonstrate concern for students, both inside and outside the classroom setting.
- Not have been a recipient of the award for the past 10 years.
A committee of the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors and a representative from the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa select the recipients based on objective rating and ranking of the eligible nominations submitted.
This episode of Behind the Blue spotlights one of the 2022 Great Teacher Award winners. Olivia Davis, from the Gatton College of Business and Economics, joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in January 2018. She was in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the assurance practice before joining UK. As a CPA with nearly 14 years of experience, Davis brings a wealth of practical experience to her classroom. She invites her students to go beyond just the technical accounting and auditing concepts by sharing real-world, current scenarios with them.
Davis serves as the faculty advisor for the UK Student Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants and she is a professional member of NABA. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from UK. Davis was awarded the Gatton College Teaching Excellence Award in 2020, the 2021 Gatton College Faculty of the Year (student selected) and the 2021 University of Kentucky Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching.
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