[359] Foote Repeats Outstanding Business Professor Award

Release date: March 15, 2010


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Martin Chair of Insurance contact: Dr. Ken Hollman, 615-898-2673
or khollman@mtsu.edu

Foote Repeats Outstanding Business Professor Award
Earns Insurance Fraternity Honor for Second Straight Year

(MURFREESBORO, TN) – Rebecca Foote, an instructor in the MTSU Department of Accounting, has been elected Outstanding Professor in the College of Business in an election sponsored by the insurance fraternity Gamma Iota Sigma.
The award was announced after a vote by students in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business earlier this year.
Every professor in the College of Business was a candidate for the honor, said Dr. Ken Hollman, Martin Chair of Insurance chairholder. All students with a major or minor in the College of Business were eligible to vote, he added.
“A total of 405 votes were cast,” Hollman said, “and Ms. Foote received 30 of them, about 40 percent more than her nearest competitor.”
Foote received the honor for the second straight year.
“Every day in the classroom, I try to convey my belief that it is a privilege for us to be there — teacher and students,” Foote said. “I strive to challenge my students and help them realize that dedication to their educational endeavors will be rewarded. I am truly humbled by this wonderful honor from the students.”
Gamma Iota Sigma gives the award as part of its competition with 45 other chapters across the country, Hollman said, adding that the award is given only at MTSU.
Hollman, adviser to Gamma Iota Sigma, praised Foote.
“Ms. Foote is devoted to the students and her profession,” he said. “She is well-prepared, current in her field and can relate extremely well to today’s student. The students in our fraternity and I feel that naming an outstanding professor each year is a way to provide psychological encouragement to the faculty for doing a good job.”
In a letter of commendation to Foote, Gamma Iota Sigma President Megan Richardson noted that her selection was indicative of a “sincere interest in students and of efforts to provide them with a relevant and contemporary educational experience leading to a career in business. It is an expression of appreciation for service to our college and its student body.”
Foote has been an instructor in the Department of Accounting at MTSU since 2006. She received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and a master’s degree from MTSU. Her husband, David, is an associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing.

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Notes: To place a request to interview Dr. Rebecca Foote or obtain a high-resolution jpeg photo of her by e-mail, please contact News and Public Affairs’ Randy Weiler at 615-898-5616 or e-mail jweiler@mtsu.edu.


With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.


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