Assistant Professor of Information Systems Shuai Yuan was nervous the first time he taught a class while working toward his doctorate degree.

Yuan, who received the 2024 Goodman School of Business Faculty Award in Teaching Excellence, was concerned about not being able to answer all of his students’ questions.

Then he remembered some words of wisdom from the Tang Dynasty essayist Han Yu about the meaning and purpose of a teacher, which he read as a child growing up in China.

“The student is not necessarily inferior to the teacher and the teacher is not necessarily more talented than the student,” Yuan said. “The fact is one might have learned a subject earlier than the other or may be a master in their field.”

He went on to teach six class sections over the next three years while completing his PhD in management science and systems at State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

Yuan found his calling in the process.

“I found it really rewarding because teaching for me is a mutual learning experience,” he said. “Students always inspire me with a fresh perspective on course materials, and with former students, the reward is seeing how they learn and apply the lessons. That’s why I love teaching at a university. It’s lifelong learning at a university.”

Yuan has always been a teacher. Even as a child, he enjoyed explaining things to his friends.

“You truly understand a concept only when you can explain it to others,” he said.

After graduating from SUNY, Yuan joined Goodman as a faculty member in 2018. He was drawn to Brock because of his love for the Niagara region on either side of the border and because of the University’s commitment to honouring the diversity of its students, staff and faculty.

“My students come from different cultures and speak different languages. I speak Mandarin at home. We celebrate different holidays but we respect and appreciate each other,” Yuan said. “Diversity is not a slogan. It’s a way of life here and I appreciate it every day.”

He’s also grateful for the recognition from Goodman six years after arriving at Brock.

Yuan was excited and humbled by news of his teaching award, and credits the support of his students, colleagues, friends, family and even his dogs, Odie and Nammi, for his success.

He remains driven to help his students achieve their personal and professional goals and better themselves in the process. That includes teaching them to be critical thinkers who can learn independently.

His ability to do support his students’ growth rests in the empathy he has for all the faces looking back at him when he’s at the front of a Goodman classroom.

“To deliver a better teaching experience, I need to understand my students better — what their challenges, experiences and needs are,” Yuan said. “I feel that’s important to my teaching success.”