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<p>Dr. Mahmoud Haddad, a University of Tennessee at Martin professor of finance, was among faculty members honored by the Ohio Valley Conference during the OVC Basketball Championship, March 1-4, in Evansville, Indiana, when he was announced as UT Martin’s inaugural Outstanding Faculty Commitment to Student Success Award recipient. Haddad teaches in the College of Business and Global Affairs.</p>
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<p>The awards were created by the provosts from OVC-member institutions to recognize outstanding faculty members at each school. Recipients must be associate or full professors in rank and have been employed at the institution for five years. The selection criteria included impacts of students, contributions made to the department, university and curriculum development, consistent professional development as well as community involvement and institutional service. Each OVC member institution nominated a full-time faculty member with the rank of associate or full professor with at least five years of employment at the school.</p>
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<p>Haddad began teaching at UT Martin in 1992 after receiving his Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees from Minnesota State University in 1977 and his doctorate in finance in 1984 at the University of Alabama. Haddad has been a constant for the College of Business and Global Affairs having been recognized for his work through the 1998 Featured Faculty Scholar Award, the 2005 Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, the 2016 Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar Award, the 2019 UT Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor Award, and others.</p>
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<p>In 2001, Haddad utilized the Reagan Faculty Leave Program to take a nine-month sabbatical to aid in establishing the Arab American University. During this time in his home country of Palestine, Haddad worked to contribute peace through education in the violent country. He found himself under gunfire multiple times while trying to better the lives of others, giving him unique perspective regarding educational freedoms.</p>
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<p>Haddad says that being the first-time UT Martin recipient of this award is meaningful because it recognizes the commitment that he has for his students and higher education. “It (the award) means that it pays off to be committed to your students, university and community,” said Haddad. “This is a great reward and honor for me and the university.”</p>
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<p>The Ohio Valley Conference is observing its 75<sup>th</sup> year. In addition to UT Martin, which joined the conference in 1992, OVC member institutions are the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Eastern Illinois University, Lindenwood University, Morehead State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the University of Southern Indiana, Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Technological University. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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