Trinity University

Susie P. Gonzalez
susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu
210-999-8445
Oct. 24, 2011

Trinity University Professor Wins Southern Economic Association Teaching Award

SAN ANTONIO - Richard Butler, professor of economics and chair of business administration at Trinity University, is the 2011 recipient of the Kenneth G. Elzinga Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association (SEA.)

Butler is best known for:

--  Connecting students with actual problems through a program he developed 20 years ago known as "economists in the schools,"

--  Sending Urban Economics students to City Hall to confront municipal challenges, and

--  Spending the last decade leading a partnership of 20 school districts, the Alamo Colleges, and numerous industries and agencies to form four Alamo Area Academies specializing in job preparation the fields of aerospace, information technology and security, manufacturing, and the health professions.

Butler has established a voluntary "breakfast club" for students to gather at 8:30 a.m. before his classes to review material. In this setting, he moves from one group to another as "a guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage" to "pull them down the reasoning path that will get them" to understand the concepts.

"What I try to do is prepare my students for the real world," Butler said. "My job is to teach them to think like an economist and give them assignments that connect academic learning to real work." For example, he explains a policy analyst might have two weeks to prepare a recommendation for a member of Congress or the head of an agency. The economist must explain whether option "x, y, or z" is better and why, he said, adding that his "Butler alumni" suggested such an approach. "This is an example of taking academic learning and putting it into a real-world problem. When students see that education is powerful, you see that it can take you some place."

A recipient in 2001 of Trinity's highest teaching honor, the Dr. and Mrs. Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship, Butler said the SEA award distinguishes him among a field of several thousand regional economists. The award recognizes his teaching prowess on the Trinity campus and beyond.

"Richard Butler is a superb teacher of economics," said John H. Huston, professor and chair of economics at Trinity. "This can be seen in innovative course designs, his intriguing lectures, his high standards, and the devotion of his current and former students." Huston said Butler's contributions go well beyond the classroom and that his educational innovations have had a major impact on the San Antonio area and are now being copied elsewhere.

The award is doubly significant to Butler, who knew Elzinga when he taught spent two semesters at Trinity. "I saw him teach. He was wonderful," Butler said. Elzinga also co-authored a series of books with former Trinity economics professor Bill Breit, who died in August, using economic theories to solve murders.

Elzinga is the Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia and is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished, effective, and influential educators in the economics profession during a 35-year teaching and research career. Elzinga is considered to be creative and versatile in the classroom, exhibiting a style of instruction and commitment to helping students develop an understanding of and appreciation for economic reasoning and insights that inspires economic educators.

The Southern Economic Association is one of the oldest regional economics associations in the United States, dating back to a conference held in Atlanta in November 1928. The Southern Economic Journal began publication in 1933 and is the eighth oldest American scholarly journal in economics. From its founding, the association has furthered the education of scholars and the public in economic affairs.