BIG RAPIDS – Richard Goosen, professor in the College of Engineering Technology, was
named Ferris State University’s Distinguished Teacher Award winner for 2009-10.
The coordinator for the Product Design Engineering and CAD Drafting Tool Design programs, Goosen was selected by the Distinguished Teacher Award Committee after a year-long evaluation process that included numerous classroom visitations, hundreds of student surveys, hours of finalist interviews, meetings, and the reading and evaluating of essays and curriculum vitae.
“From the student evaluations and their comments, as well as the class visitations from the committee members, it was clear that Dr. Goosen is truly a distinguished faculty member at Ferris State University,” said Khagendra Thapa, committee chair. “He works very hard to ensure that students in his class understand the material he teaches. Dr. Goosen goes out of his way to help students learn the material and they are properly advised so that they can graduate within a specified time period.”
Being named winner of the Distinguished Teacher Award was gratifying for Goosen who
sees himself as a down-to-earth teacher who is dedicated to the success of his students.
“I was humbled and surprised because I view the Distinguished Teacher Award as the
most significant and meaningful award we give at Ferris because it is focused specifically
on teaching,” said Goosen of Cedar Springs. “It was really quite an honor. If you
ask me what it is I did to get this honor I would say, ‘I teach.’ When you receive
positive reinforcement on what you consider your mission in life to be, it winds up
being a very good thing.”
Goosen has been an assistant professor at Ferris since 1993 and has served as coordinator of two CET programs since 2009. As an assistant professor, he teaches courses in engineering technology related to engineering science and mechanical design. As coordinator of Ferris’ Product Design Engineering Technology and CAD Drafting Tool Design programs, Goosen provides administrative support in addition to teaching responsibilities.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering in 1974 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University in 1978, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio University in 1985 and was awarded a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University in 2009.