Burks earns Alumni Teaching Award

University of Minnesota Morris professor of economics Steve Burks has earned the 2024 University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Association Teaching Award. This award honors individual faculty members for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education by calling attention to educational philosophies, objectives, and methods.

Burks was nominated for this award because he, in the nominating committee’s words, “exemplifies the best of liberal arts college teaching.”

Burks joined the UMN Morris faculty in 1999. In 2005, he co-founded the Truckers & Turnover Project, a multi-year study in the field of behavioral personnel economics conducted by a team of Morris faculty and students as well as faculty from other institutions, in cooperation with trucking industry partners.

In their nomination, students and colleagues point to the significant impact Burks has had on the lives of numerous students he has taught and mentored/advised in undergraduate research.

Burks found his academic passion in economics and believes that integrating a systematic approach to student participation in research has been central to him sharing that passion with UMN Morris students. He admits that he brings a unique mix of life and educational experiences to his role as teacher, having first earned degrees in philosophy, then shifting to economics following a decade-long career as a tractor-trailer driver.

Burks received his award at the Annual Faculty and Staff Recognition Dinner on Tuesday, April 23.

The University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Association established the UMMAA Teaching Award in 1997 to honor individual faculty members for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. Learn more at alumni.morris.umn.edu