2022 TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award winners announced

Scott MacEachern and Mark Moore have been named the winners of the 2022 TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Awards, the highest teaching honour of its kind at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. MacEachern is an accounting lecturer, while Moore is a senior lecturer of strategy, business, and society.

Each year, SFU Beedie students, faculty, and alumni nominate their favourite instructors from both undergraduate and postgraduate programs for this award in recognition of their excellent teaching and the respect and admiration of their students.

Scott MacEachern

Scott MacEachern is a Chartered Professional Accountant and received a Master of Science in Professional Accounting (specializing in Data Analytics) from Colorado State University. He teaches accounting and data analytics to graduate and undergraduate programs at SFU Beedie. Prior to coming to SFU, Scott was the CFO of a public multinational fibre optic deployment company, auditor for a Big 4 accounting firm, and partner of his own firm.

“It was already awesome to be nominated for this award, but to actually win it was phenomenal!” MacEachern says. “A huge thank you is owed to my colleagues who gave me the opportunity to teach some fascinating courses, as well as to those who taught me how to teach. And of course, the students: thank you so much for your relentless enthusiasm and positivity during three-hour accounting classes.”

Before becoming a lecturer, MacEachern spent over a decade in the financial accounting industry. This experience informs not only his research interests but also his educational philosophy.

“I believe education should be fun, engaging, interactive and applicable to real world scenarios,” He says. “Depending on the topic, this could involve cases, practical examples, research, data analysis, studying, discussion, videos, or playing video games; as long as the concepts are internalized and ready to apply, we’ve succeeded together.”

Mark Moore

Mark Moore is a senior lecturer of strategy, business and society and received his PhD in economics from Columbia University. Prior to coming to SFU, Mark taught business and economics at the University of British Columbia, Colgate University and Columbia University. He teaches managerial economics for both graduate and undergraduate programs at SFU Beedie.

“I have always believed that teaching is its own reward, and that I am blessed with one of the best jobs in the world – but it is certainly an honour to receive this recognition. I would like to thank my students for the nomination and the committee for their consideration. SFU Beedie has many outstanding teachers and I am humbled to be included among those who have won this award. I have benefited over the years from learning from past and present colleagues, and I thank all of them. I would also like to thank the support staff at Beedie who have helped me to develop and deliver my courses – I couldn’t have done it without them.”

When asked what about his teaching he thinks resonates with students, Mark says, “My pedagogical objectives are to get students to understand how certain ideas can help them to see the world with new eyes, and how to use those ideas to assist their decisions. I have focused the classroom on active learning by moving the lecture materials to pre-recorded videos, and by using the class as an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge through team-based discussion and presentation of solutions to problems that are based on actual business situations. ‘Flipping’ the classroom has, I believe, greatly enhanced the ability of students to comprehend the course concepts, and to know when and how to apply them. The greatest reward is having students tell me that they have discovered new ways of understanding their businesses because of what they have learned.”

For more information and past winners, visit the TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Awards page.