Hammes Receives BOR Excellence in Teaching Award

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Posted: Jun 9, 2003


University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Economics Professor Dr. David Hammes is the recipient of the 2003 University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching by a full-time faculty member. The award was presented by UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng during Spring Commencement exercises held on May 17, 2003 in the UH Hilo New Gym.

"Congratulations! You really deserve this," Tseng told Hammes during the presentation of his award. Tseng called the award a "very high honor" noting that Hammes was "recommended to me by people who mean much to him, his students and colleagues."

"David loves teaching," said UH Hilo School of Business Chair Dr. Marcia Sakai about her colleague. "He frequently expresses amazement that one can earn a living by talking to students about a subject he loves so well."

Kevin Johns, a 1996 UH Hilo honors graduate in business administration with an economics minor, said that what he learned from Hammes is put to good use in his job as a projects coordinator for A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri.

"There are not many professionals in this computer-driven field who can claim the business and financial background that I have," Johns said. "Much of this information I learned directly from Dr. Hammes. I have great respect for him both personally and professionally."

Comfort Sumida, who graduated from UH Hilo in 2000 with a degree in economics, called Hammes "approachable and encouraging."

"As his student, I never felt inferior," she said. "And it was apparent in his manner that he was eager to help.

"I have kept in contact with Dr. Hammes, and he has continued to provide advice and motivation when I need it."

Even students outside the School of Business, such as UH Hilo communication major Kaleen Yamase, find Hammes to be an inspiration.

"Every now and then Dr. Hammes will tell the class a success story of a famous economist or entrepreneur," she explained. "These stories clearly demonstrate the concept we are discussing, but are also examples of our potential as students who are about to enter the ʻreal world.‘ His anecdotes demonstrate the application of economics, while teaching us the power of applying ourselves in everything we do."

Hammes, who has taught at UH Hilo for the past 16 years, is an active scholar and researcher as well as a teacher. He recently completed a historical analysis on the formation of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Current projects include a treatise on the impact of bank robbers on local community development in the U.S. "Wild West" of the late 1860s and an instructional research piece on the correlation between the prices of oil and gold during the "oil shock" of the 1970s.