Roger Grinde

Excellence in Teaching, 2023

Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics

Professor Roger Grinde is a lifelong learner who consistently demands as much from himself as he does from his students. He immerses himself in his specialties of business analytics and information systems to keep current on the latest technological advancements and adapts his curriculum accordingly.

Grinde firmly believes that students must be challenged to get the most out of learning and be competitive in the job market. He never compromises on the rigor of his courses. Despite the challenging nature of Grinde’s courses, he has a talent for breaking down and explaining complex concepts and materials in a simple and straightforward manner for students to understand.

Grinde goes the extra mile in the classroom to make learning meaningful, interesting and engaging for students by designing and choosing examples, exercises, live demonstrations, real-world data sets, case studies and assignments that are highly relevant and applicable to real life and the business world. He also creates a participatory learning environment through interactive learning games and hands-on learning-by-doing activities.

Grinde is open-minded about new technology and encourages his students to utilize it in their studies, but consistently stresses that technology is no substitute for domain knowledge, and they must always be prepared to interpret and explain data they use in their exercises.

A student’s appraisal succinctly encapsulates his impact: “Professor Grinde did an excellent job. The aspect of this class I really appreciated was utilizing modern–day tools to perform data visualizations. I really enjoy a class that does not just follow a textbook and this class kept my interest the entire time. It was also awesome that some of his presentations included updated information from the past few days or even day.”

In nominating Grinde for this award, Jing Wang, associate professor of information systems, says, “During the time I have known Professor Grinde, I have been very impressed with his commitment and passion for teaching excellence, dedication to the success of his students and versatility in teaching a wide range of courses at various student levels and with different delivery modalities.”