2021 Lam-Larsen Distinguished Teaching Professorship Awards

Professor, Decision Sciences

During her 19 years of teaching in the Decision Sciences Department at the Lam Family College of Business, Cholette consistently received exceptionally high evaluation scores from her students. She is an innovative instructor and strives to improve her teaching constantly. Her teaching methods are highly engaging, experiential, and fun. This interactive approach is seen in a vaccine distribution simulation game Cholette created for her students. She is also passionate in mentoring both faculty and students, sharing her teaching materials with other instructors and volunteering to supervise numerous students in independent studies and internship courses.

Lecturer Faculty, Information Systems

Ciomek has instructed classes with hundreds of students each semester for many years. Despite the challenges of teaching large classes, he consistently receives excellent teaching evaluations and positive feedback from students. Ciomek’s passion for teaching and inspiring students to learn new technology is truly commendable. He continually experiments with new tools and technologies, incorporating them into his courses to enhance students’ learning and skill development. He also led the initiative to implement Microsoft Office Specialist certification on campus, which has proved very valuable in preparing students for future job opportunities.

Professor, Management

Desa exemplifies the scholarship of teaching, undertaking a systematic inquiry about student learning. He is a Stanford electrical engineer by training and an accomplished researcher in his own right – like a good engineer, he applies his rigorous analytical skills to researching the effectiveness of various pedagogies in his classes. The importance of critical thinking in the classroom is clear, but Desa operationalizes it by assessing, evaluating, and improving the academic literacy of his students. Desa has been compared to a virtuoso jazz musician – he understands the importance of setting up a learning environment that manages the creative tension between structure and spontaneity and creativity.

Associate Professor, Finance

In addition to Feldman's highly effective classroom teaching, he created and taught two innovative finance courses: one in FinTech, covering such topics as Blockchain and crypto currencies, and the other, an ESG-based Student Sustainable Investment Fund course that invests $200,000 of SF State endowment funds. Among his many other contributions to our college and students, Feldman coordinates and helped develop the criteria for the Future Investment Scholarship, which pays a student’s full cost of attending SF State for two years and is generously funded by SF State alumna Neda Nobari (B.S., ’84), a former fashion industry executive and Iranian-American philanthropist. Feldman also advises and mentors his students and serves as a long‐term faculty advisor to our undergraduate student finance organization, Finance and Management Education (FAME).

Department Chair and Professor, Information Systems

Sayeed has an impressive record of curriculum and course development. In recent years, he has developed four new certificates and two new graduate courses, and was involved in developing the Master of Science in Business Analytics program. These programs and courses prepare students for their future careers by providing them new tools and up‐to‐date technological knowledge. In addition to leading these initiatives and serving as Chair of the Information Systems Department, Sayeed is an effective classroom teacher who is committed to his students’ success and a strong advocate for minority and first‐generation immigrant students.