Amy O’Connor, assistant professor of communication, is the 2009 College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Teacher.
O’Connor was chosen because she has left a significant mark on the teaching profession and the lives of her students. “Dr. O’Connor is much more than just a teacher. She is a mentor, a leader and a role model,” said Kodee Gartner, one of O’Connor’s students and advisees. “She has forever changed my life and I know I am one of many who share this sentiment.”
She devotes one day per week to advising her students and has received the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Apple Polisher Award from the Bison Ambassadors for teaching and mentoring activities. She also is the current faculty adviser for NDSU's Public Relations Society of America chapter.
O’Connor seeks to do what is right by the students in her classes and her colleagues in the communication department. “I have observed on numerous occasions her efforts to keep the students on higher moral ground when faced with obstacles that would make acquiescence a much easier option,” said Ross Collins, associate professor of communication. “She is respectful of student opinion, yet willing to challenge comfortable assumptions and thoughts that may not represent the best interests of all.” O’Connor teaches courses in crisis communication, organizational ethics, power and leadership and public relations campaigns.
Paul Nelson, professor and head of the communication department, says that O’Connor is a major asset to the communication department because she served as a professional in a major public relations and advertising firm in Chicago before she earned her doctorate. “A fine education plus a considerable professional experience provided her with excellent credentials for teaching. Fortunately for our department, she turned out to be a strikingly good teacher who also publishes more than enough to meet our very high promotion and tenure standards,” he said.
Her research seeks to understand how the corporate form, stakeholders and community co-construct understandings of work, social responsibility and identity. In addition, she is working on a study investigating the lived experiences of working mothers.
O’Connor joined the NDSU in 2004 after earning a doctorate at Purdue University. She earned a master’s degree at Western Michigan State University in Kalamazoo, Mich., and a bachelor’s degree at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.