Excellence in teaching
In gratitude for the formative education he received at Boston College and the faculty who made his experience so meaningful, BC graduate Mike Dixon ’06 has established the Dixon Family Provost Faculty Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, awarded to a faculty member whose classroom instruction has left an indelible impression on students.
Ed Taylor ‘81, a popular senior lecturer in the Carroll School of Management who has taught accounting and taxation to students, including Dixon, since 1986, was chosen by Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley as the inaugural holder of the fellowship, in recognition of his commitment to mentoring and teaching excellence.
Mike Dixon
Dixon, a managing partner of the San Francisco-based firm Transformation Capital, and a member of the BC Board of Regents, was a Presidential Scholar who double-majored in finance and accounting in the Carroll School.
Working in partnership with Quigley and staff from University Advancement, Dixon said he established the fellowship to honor great teachers who helped pave the way for his personal and professional success.
“While I have enthusiastically supported the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, without which I could not have attended BC, and the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, out of my appreciation for the work of Casey Beaumier, S.J., I decided that I wanted to support professors who make a difference in the lives of students,” said Dixon.
“I did not want to be involved in who was selected for the fellowship, so when I found out it was Ed Taylor, I was thrilled. Every student in his class loved him. He is a superb teacher who makes accounting fun and genuinely cares about his students’ success. He is the canonical example of the professor I hoped BC would recognize through this faculty fellowship.”
Taylor, who has taught more than 270 classes with some 10,000 students, has won multiple teaching awards including the Mary Kaye Waldron Award in 2004, the Carroll School of Management’s Honors Program Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005, 2011, and 2013, the Massachusetts Society of CPAs Outstanding Educator Award in 2012, and the Carroll School’s Distinguished Teaching Award that same year. He said he was honored to be named the inaugural recipient of the fellowship and grateful that young alumni like Dixon were willing to recognize faculty for their dedication to teaching.
“Mike was an extraordinary student who was part of arguably the best class of students that I have had during my 25+ years on the faculty,” said Taylor. “We have so many talented and dedicated faculty members here at Boston College. To be recognized as the inaugural recipient of an award that recognizes undergraduate teaching and service is among the highlights of my career at Boston College.”
Added Quigley, “It is inspiring that Mike Dixon, who helped maintain our focus on the experience of undergraduates as the student representative on the University Strategic Planning Initiative from 2004 to 2006, has established the Dixon Family Provost Faculty Fellowship in Teaching Excellence to recognize individuals among the Boston College faculty who embody our commitment to transformative teaching and mentoring.
“Ed Taylor of the Accounting Department is a most worthy first holder of this new Faculty Fellowship, as he has inspired generations of students in and out of his classroom.”
“All of my classes at BC were taught by people who were committed to undergraduate education. They loved to teach and knew they had something meaningful to contribute. . .I had them 20 years ago and I still remember the lessons and values they taught me today.”
Dixon, whose firm focuses on supporting health companies with a shared interest in using data, AI, and digital technology to improve health care across all stages of life, said his rigorous undergraduate education at Boston College prepared him for success in the business world thanks to faculty who went beyond outstanding classroom instruction to make a difference in shaping students’ lives.
“All of my classes at BC were taught by people who were committed to undergraduate education,” said Dixon. “They loved to teach and knew they had something meaningful to contribute. I am on the track I am in life because of people like Richard Tresch, David Twomey, Mike Barry, George Aragon, Billy Soo, and Ed Taylor, among others, who made my educational experience so formative. I had them 20 years ago and I still remember the lessons and values they taught me today.”
Dixon said his BC experiences outside the classroom, which included working with Quigley and University President William P. Leahy, S.J., as the student representative on the Strategic Planning Committee, were invaluable opportunities that exposed him to the importance of planning and assessment and the intricate work involved in university governance.
“BC gives its students a well-rounded experience that helps develop the hard and soft skills that are so useful in life,” he said. “The University’s alumni network also opened doors for me from Fidelity Investments to Sequoia Capital, and those connections continue to assist me in my work on behalf of Transformation Capital.
“Because I went to BC, I became friends with a lot of hardworking, driven, and successful students. We did great things together during our undergraduate years at BC and are continuing to do important work in our careers that will make a difference in the world. I am profoundly grateful to Boston College for all it has done for me.”