Mike Ryan, who teaches microeconomics and macroeconomics and is the head of the Department of Economics and Finance in the Mike Cottrell College of Business at UNG, has been recognized for teaching excellence by state and national organizations.
He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from the University of Miami and a master's degree in economics from Florida State University. Ryan currently is working on a Ph.D. in financial planning, housing, and consumer economics at the University of Georgia.
He serves on UNG's Academic Affairs Committee and has previously served on the Student Honors Committee, reviewed online courses under the Quality Matters standards, and coauthored the Business & Economic Outlook for UNG's Environmental Scan Task Force.
His current research includes analysis of the preferences for competing retirement plans, investigation of the elasticity of demand for online courses, and examination of pedagogical methods associated with economics course work.
Ryan is interested in the applications of economic principles in the real world.
"Regarding our current research, it is rewarding to consider that our analysis of the demand for online courses could shape the course offerings that we provide to our students at UNG or at other institutions," he said. "In a similar manner, I hope that my research on preference for defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans will help influence the retirement options the employers provide to employees in the state and region."
Ryan received the 2009 "Regional Teaching Excellence Award" from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs and the 2010 "Professor of the Year Award" from the Georgia Association of Economics and Finance at UNG. He also received the UNG excellence in online teaching award in 2013 and the UNG emerging leader Award in 2015.
"I received UNG's Excellence in Online Teaching Award as a result of designing and delivering comprehensive versions of both macroeconomics and microeconomics courses," he said. "I focused on structuring these courses so that students had multiple 'touches' with the material through student-content interaction, student-instructor interaction, and student-student interaction. I was very honored to receive this UNG award and be nominated for the same award for the University System of Georgia.
"I received the UNG Emerging Leader Award after serving as Department Head for Economics and Finance for two years. In those two years and the time since, I have attempted to focus on shared governance, effective leadership, and promoting consistent and clear communications among faculty, staff, and students. I also felt very honored to receive this award."
