April 20, 2015
National association honors Barbara Hagler
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Barbara E. Hagler, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty member, is the 2015 National Business Education Association Outstanding Collegiate Teacher of the Year.
A special committee selected Hager as the award recipient in recognition of her contributions to the field of business education, including research and service. Hagler, an associate professor and director of undergraduate programs in the Department of Workforce Education and Development, received the award at the organization’s national conference in Chicago earlier this month.
“It was a great honor to be recognized and become a part of such an esteemed group of recipients,” Hagler said.
She said she enjoys teaching and particularly likes “the interactions with students and the opportunity to see them succeed and do well in their careers.”
Hagler is a double alumna of SIU, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business education in 1976 and 1977, respectively. She completed her doctorate in secondary education/business education at Arizona State University in Tempe in 1991.
She joined the SIU faculty in 1987, initially as a lecturer, and has worked for Workforce Education and Development since that time. Her prior experience includes time as an instructor at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
Hagler previously received outstanding teacher awards from the Illinois Business Education Association, the Southern Illinois Business Education Association, the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education and the North Central Business Education Association.
She has received a number of grants to further her work, including a $635,000 “Curriculum Revitalization Project -- FY 15” grant last year from the Illinois State Board of Education. She has had numerous articles published in business education journals, was co-editor of the 2014 NBEA Yearbook, “Leadership in Business Education,” and is the current editor of the “Journal for Research in Business Education.” She has been active in professional organizations and campus service as well.