Economics Professor John Seater Receives University’s Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award
Seater and 17 other university faculty members were honored by the NC State Alumni Association for their excellence in teaching during a May 5, 2011, awards ceremony and reception at the Park Alumni Center on NC State’s Centennial Campus.
NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson described the honored faculty as “intellectual catalysts” and “the cornerstone of this university.” Seater’s excellence in teaching is reflected in the achievements of his graduate students. Following are excerpts from students’ letters supporting his nomination for the award.
John Dawson, associate professor of economics at Appalachian State University, was supervised by Professor Seater, whom he met when applying for graduate studies in economics at NC State in 1990.
“When I look back on that day some 15 years ago, it is truly unbelievable to see how far I have come. The development of my skills and abilities as an economist during graduate school and beyond are due in large part to the direction of Professor Seater.”
Urges students to ‘think scholarly’
Dawson credits Seater for pushing him and his classmates to “think scholarly. Teaching in graduate school is not just providing information on what has been done before, but teaching the ability to work beyond what has been done before. This is a clear objective in Dr. Seater’s classroom. Saying he made this learning easy would not be a complement, and it was not easy, but it was effective. It takes a true scholar to teach in this way.”
Dawson also commends Seater for his guidance during his dissertation process. “He provided guidance in the essential places, but allowed enough independence (for me) to develop my own scholarly ability. Even beyond my days in graduate school, Dr. Seater has continued to serve as a mentor. We continue to discuss research and work on papers together, and I continue to learn as a result of my collaboration with him. In fact, we recently finished revising a paper we sent to a top-tier journal,” Dawson said.
Lei Ji, a visiting assistant professor at Old Dominion University and post-doc 2011-12 at the European University Institute, had Seater as a professor from 2005 to 2010, and as dissertation advisor from 2007 to 2010. “He is not only my advisor in economics, but also my mentor in many aspects of life. I consider Dr. Seater the best professor I have ever had,” Ji said.
An Academic World Full of Surprises, Excitement
“I started to realize that he is a pure scholar, full of passion for his research area. He is pure in the sense that the only thing that can attract his interest and occupy his time and energy at school is economic research. Nothing else can distract his attention. As a class mentor, his one hundred percent concentration and passion on the lecture brought us into an academic world full of surprises and excitement. He inspired us to explore the topics and taught us how an economics scholar thinks about the issue of economic development. This is the first time I realized that the academic world can be so fascinating. As a (dissertation) supervisor, he gave me enough free space to conduct my own independent research.”
As Ji’s doctoral dissertation advisor, “he taught me every aspect of research, from how to find a good topic to how to defend my work politely but firmly. Being confident and thinking critically are the two most important things that I’ve learned from Dr. Seater. ‘Do careful research, and be confident’ is what he always tells me. Without his encouragement and guidance, I cannot imagine myself starting to do good research.”
Ji also commented on Seater’s personal energy and curiosity. “He treats himself as a student and learns new things all the time. Besides, he is also a person that has a strong faith. He establishes his own faith by repeatedly accepting new challenges and self-examination. His whole life is a process of self-learning and self-improving. As a teacher, he not only teaches me in the classroom. Beyond that, he teaches me even more from his attitude toward the life.
Seater continues to mentor Ji as they collaborate on research papers. “We just submitted one paper to a top-tier journal, and finished a draft of another paper (on the topic of trade and growth). He also provides suggestions on my own work,” Ji said.
Never Compromise with Ambiguity
Chienyu Huang, a current graduate student, said Seater stresses the importance of “clear, precise and neat answers. He never appreciates answers with redundant words and prolonged sentences. He believes that that only means you don’t understand the material well. What I learned from such a class experience was his attitude toward academia: as a scholar one never compromises with ambiguity. This attitude later greatly influenced me when I conduct my own research,” he said.
Huang continues, “He inspired us to explore the topics and taught us how an economics scholar thinks about the issue of economic development. This is the first time I realized that the academic world can be so fascinating. It was hard to imagine how the lecture would go without his instruction. As a supervisor, he gave me enough free space to conduct my own independent research. He encourages me to search for my own research directions. Although it is sometimes very difficult to conduct your own research under such degrees of freedom, it was how I learned to be an independent researcher.
Huang also commented on Seater’s energy and curiosity “about everything. (He) treats himself as a student and learns new things all the time. He is also a person that has a strong faith. He establishes his own faith by repeatedly accepting new challenges and self-examination. His whole life is a process of self-learning and self-improving. As a teacher, he not only teaches me in the classroom. Beyond that, he teaches me even more from his attitude toward the life.”
Among his other students writing in support of his nomination for the award are Dr. Zulal Denaux, associate professor of economics at Valdosta State University and Dr. Erin Alexander with Ernst & Young.
Seater joined the economics faculty at NC State as associate professor in 1981, more than a decade before the college was established. His areas of research include macroeconomics, economic growth, technical progress, dynamic international trade, and monetary economics. He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the NC State College of Management, and had received the College of Management Distinguished Graduate Teaching award in 2004. He also holds a concurrent position as Sloan Fellow at the Wharton Financial Institutions Center’s Sloan Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
