Distinguished Faculty Teaching II Award: Brickner's teaching path took him from a big accounting firm to the classroom

Before coming to Eastern Michigan University, Dan Brickner worked in the Cleveland office of Ernst & Young, one of the country's biggest accounting firms. It was a really good job, just the kind many of his students hope to land when they finish school.

It even kept him close to his beloved Cleveland Indians, but there were days, sometimes, when it was hard to get excited about going to work.

He noticed though, as he moved up to a supervisory role where he was explaining things to newer hires, that he really enjoyed teaching and wanted to do more.

CLASS ACCOUNTABILITY: Dan Brickner, an Eastern Michigan University professor of accounting, makes a point during one of his classes. Brickner was recently named the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Teaching II Award winner.

In 1999, Brickner left Ernst & Young to pursue an MBA and a doctorate at Kent State University. At the time, his parents were a little nervous about his choice to leave the comfortable stability of accounting to go back to school. Brickner hung tight to his dad's advice: "If you're going to do it, do it right."

And when Brickner, an accounting professor, accepted the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Teaching II Award in March, his proud parents made the trip up from Cleveland to share the moment.

"I really give credit to my parents for anything I succeed at," he said. "They set a great foundation ... Most importantly, they tried to emphasize — when we were growing up — the importance of being a good person, being considerate of others, taking pride in what you're doing. It didn't matter where life led us. I think that was instilled early on in childhood, and it gave us a foundation to succeed at whatever we pursued."

The Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award is the highest honor a faculty member can receive at EMU. Four to six faculty members are honored each year for teaching, research, creative activity and service to the University. The Teaching II award is given to a faculty member with five or more years teaching at EMU. Each recipient receives a plaque and a $3,500 honorarium.

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