University Award to Balakrishnan
Introduction
The University of Washington Bothell announced that P. V. (Sundar) Balakrishnan is the recipient of its 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award
: : : Posting
We are very pleased to announce that Dr. P.V. (Sundar) Balakrishnan is the recipient of the University of Washington 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award. This award is presented to one faculty member at the University of Washington Bothell every year. Prof. Balakrishnan was nominated with the highest praise by his colleagues and students for his creativity and sense of engagement along with his mastery at designing a demanding curriculum. The award will be presented by Dr. Phyllis M. Wise, the interim President, of the University of Washington. The formal Awards of Excellence ceremony is on June 9th from 3:30 to 4:30 in Meany Hall, with a reception and dinner with the President afterwards in the Walker Ames Room. This award can be given only once in a person’s lifetime.
Dr. Balakrishnan is a Professor of Marketing and a founding faculty member of the UW Bothell Business Program. Since joining the UW Bothell faculty in 1994, Professor Balakrishnan has taught over a dozen different courses in Marketing and Operations management. He has a Ph.D. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a graduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. Professor Balakrishnan served as Acting Director of the Business Administration Program from 1998 to 2000. He previously served on the faculties of University of Chicago, The Ohio State University, and as a graduate research assistant at the Wharton School and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Dr. Balakrishnan is a creative and engaging educator who has consistently made a lasting impression on many of our current and future business leaders. In addition to mastering a demanding curriculum, students in his classes have designed, produced and posted multi-media projects on YouTube that have earned plaudits from professional organizations, and have conducted service projects for businesses and non-profits. Writing about his classes, one student says “I have felt relentlessly pressured, pounded, squeezed, and scorched to perform under a mountain of work; I hope what ultimately emerges is a diamond” while another says “this class is a lot of work, but if I have put in 100% effort, I have learned 200% worth of my effort”. An MBA alumnus, who is now a senior marketing executive, says "Sundar inspired us first with his own depth of knowledge and experience, then with an engaging curriculum where learning opportunities were presented in creative ways. After eleven years as a scientist, the uncertainty of finding a career that I could be passionate about ended with his New Product Marketing course. I left the course exhausted, but forever changed. He inspired in me a passion for life-long learning and I will always be grateful for that".
In addition to his teaching and mentorship, Dr. Balakrishnan is a distinguished researcher and professional reviewer. Professor Balakrishnan has done seminal research in new product marketing, and negotiations. He has co-authored pioneering research in the application of Artificial Intelligence methodologies to marketing, and has developed models that use neural network theory and genetic algorithms to address practical marketing problems. His research has been published in Management Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Economics Letters, Decision Sciences Journal, Psychometrika, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Decision Support Systems, and the European Journal of Operational Research among others.
We are privileged to have dedicated, innovative teachers at the University of Washington Bothell and our 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award winner, Dr. P.V. (Sundar) Balakrishnan, is a fine exemplar who has consistently demonstrated a genuine and deep engagement with student learning and a passion for research.
The press release can be seen at: