“My first thought was holy crap,” says John Guthrie, upon finding out he had won Premier Lecturer at the OUSA Teaching Awards.
Guthrie is a senior lecturer who has been with the Department of Marketing for 29 years. He specialises in Retailing, Personal Selling and Sales Management, and Sports Marketing. He says the award came as a shock to him. “I had been nominated a couple of times before, but this caught me totally by surprise.”
“I didn’t expect it at all. They announced all the departmental awards, and Premier Lecturer for the Commerce department went to Nicola Beaston, and I just thought ‘great, she’s incredibly deserving’. When they gave out the overall award I was just sitting there sucking on a Heineken, I thought I was out of the running.”
When asked what he thought set him apart, he didn’t hold back. “I’m a big believer that the most important part of Marketing is Self-Promotion. But seriously, like any good coach, I just love seeing the looks on students’ faces when they get it. I love seeing them learn and develop as they grasp concepts.”
One of Guthrie students, Kate Skinner, said it was his personability that set him apart. “John has always had a genuine interest in his students. He stays in contact with marketing alumni. Which meant we had some incredible guest speakers.”
OUSA President Hugh Baird, who had also taken one of John’s classes, said he was one of his favourite lecturers, “He’s a really passionate teacher who lives and breathes the subject and is well respected by his students”.
The awards organiser and OUSA Student Support Manager Sage Burke says, “This year we made a change to the system so that teachers across a spread of disciplines are considered and recognised”.
Other teachers receiving awards include:
Premier Lecturer – Commerce: Nicola Beaston
Top Tutor - Commerce: David Bishop
Premier Lecturer – Humanities: Mark Henaghan
Top Tutor – Humanities: Steven Sexton
Premier Lecturer – Health Sciences: Shyamal Das
Top Tutor – Health Sciences: Paul Pearce
Premier Lecturer – Sciences: Rachel Zajac
Summer School: David McMorran
Disability Awareness and Inclusive Teaching Award: Gill Rutherford and Gareth Treharne