2011 Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Awards

The Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association annually honors one or more faculty members for outstanding contributions to economics education. Nominations for the 2012 awards will be solicited from economics department heads, from each institution in the southern part of the United States, in the spring of 2012. Nominees who are not selected are automatically placed in the pool of nominees for the subsequent year for a period of three years.

Ken Elzinga, Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia,--first recipient of the Cavaliers’ Distinguished Teaching Professorship--is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished, effective, and influential educators in the economics profession during a distinguished teaching and research career at the University of Virginia, that has spanned over 35 years. Ken is creative and versatile in the classroom sharing his thoughts effectively with large groups of students studying the principles of economics, and using the Socratic Method, when working with students in a more advanced setting. He is a pioneer in the use of literature to explore economic reasoning which led to his writing murder mysteries that can be solved by careful economic analysis. Ken’s style of instruction and commitment to helping students develop an understanding of and appreciation for economic reasoning and insights serve as an inspiration for economic educators, so it is fitting for exemplary economic educators to be honored with an award in his name.

The winner for 2011 is:

Richard V. Butler (Trinity University)

The winner was announced at the 2011 meeting of the Southern Economic Association in Washington, DC on Sunday, November 20, and was awarded a plaque and a cash award.

Citation for the 2011 recipient

Richard V. Butler

Professor Butler is, in the words of his chair, a "superb teacher of economics," and has extended, often without compensation, his considerable pedagogical skills outside the classroom walls to influence high school students, business owners and governmental entities, in and around his home base in San Antonio, Texas. In 2001, Professor Butler was awarded the Dr. and Mrs. Z. T. Scott Faculty Fellowship, Trinity's only teaching award, and in 2005, he was named the fourth recipient of Trinity's distinguished service award. He is also the founder and co-director of Economists in the Schools, a unique one-hour course that sends Trinity students into San Antonio schools to teach economics. He led the formation of the Alamo Area Aerospace Academy, the Information Technology and Security Academy, and the recently opened Manufacturing Technology Academy, San Antonio's innovative and widely praised programs for growing a high-skill workforce. Professor Butler unquestionably has, in the committee's collective judgement, earned the recognition conferred on him as the recipient of the SEA's 2011 Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award.

Past Recipients

2010 Paul Grimes (Mississippi State University)
Jill Caviglia Harris (Salisbury University)

2009 KimMarie McGoldrick (University of Richmond)

2008 Julie Heath (The University of Memphis)
Charles Holt (University of Virginia)

2007 Richard J. Cebula (Atlantic Armstrong State University)

2006   Sheryl Ball (Virginia Tech)
           Stephen Buckles (Vanderbilt University)
           Russell Sobel (West Virginia University)

2005 Steven L. Cobb (University of North Texas)
Tom McCaleb (Florida State University)

2004   Thomas J. Nechyba (Duke University)
           L. Wayne Plumly, Jr. (Valdosta State University)

2003   Craufurd Goodwin (Duke University)
           Dennis O'Toole (Virginia Commonwealth University)
           Jason White (Northwest Missouri State University)

2002 William Darity, Jr. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
William C. Wood (James Madison University)