Thorburn won teaching award

Professor Karin Thorburn at The Department of Finance has received the NHH Master's student's annual award for excellent teaching efforts for 2014/2015.

24.06.2015 - Hallvard Lyssand

The winner of the master's teaching award is chosen by a jury from the student union based on nominations from students. The announcement was made at the graduation ceremony in the aula on Friday 19 June.

Karin Thorburn won the award for her efforts in the course Mergers & Acquisitions.

"Karin has distinguished herself as a very skillful professor who is academically strong and has the ability to involve the students in engaging to-way communication and in-depth discussions about cases in M&A," states the jury.

"By combining cases with relevant research of her own and strong general knowledge about the field, she has given the students broad competence in both qualitative and quantitative aspects of mergers and acquisitions. She combines real life cases with relevant lectures on theory, and thus makes the subject both exciting and practical, resulting in enthusiastic and dedicated students," the jury continues.

"I find Karin a most worthy winner who dares to challenge her students and who develops her teaching in the right direction. I hope many will be inspired by her," says Head of Academic Affairs in NHHS, Kaja Karinsdatter Toset.

Means a lot

"The award means a lot to me. I was actually surprised how happy and proud it made me to learn about it," says Karin Thorburn.

"I get very engaged in my students and the conversation that takes place in the classroom-both between the students and I, and between the participants themselves. For me, the award symbolizes that this conversation is as important to the students as it is to me-and that's powerful," she adds.

"I believe that it takes engagement to learn. When I succeed in motivating the students to do the readings and prepare the assignments in advance, allowing us to lift the classroom discussion to a higher level, then I have really managed to reach them. And when I see the students' enthusiasm over mastering the materials and how they in an increasingly assertive manner voice their opinions and take space in the classroom discussion, then I know that they have made the knowledge their own. To me, this is what the award symbolizes."

"I hesitated for several years before I decided to try my teaching style from the US classroom at NHH. Having done that, I have found it works really well and that is a great discovery."

"I would like to thank my students and the student academic board for having acknowledged my-for Norway-quite unconventional teaching style. I look forward to getting to work with new generations of NHH students," Thorburn concludes.

Karin Thorburn's profile page