When I joined UD in 1978, there was a list—based off student course evaluation—that ranked all faculty in the College of Business and Economics, from 1 to 86. As a rookie, I was afraid of being ranked at the bottom. To avoid this embarrassment, I sought the expertise of the No.1-ranked professor, the late Art Sloane. 

I went to meet Prof. Sloane in his office and introduced myself as a brand-new assistant professor in the Department of Accounting.  Prof. Sloane was in the Department of Business Administration. I told him that I was aware that he was the top-ranked professor in the College, and I wanted to ask his permission to observe his class, hoping that I could learn from his teaching method. Prof. Sloane was touched and flattered by my desire to learn from him, and warmly invited me to visit his class any time, which I did.

I noticed that from the moment he stepped in the classroom, Prof. Sloane opened with a joke that brightened the class. He had an incredible sense of humor and was a good storyteller. He taught a class in labor relations using his own textbook and interjected anecdotes from his many years of experience dealing with labor negotiations. After observing his class, I felt depressed, thinking I could never excel in my teaching. I remembered that I have no sense of humor and was not good at telling jokes. In fact, I was teaching a dry subject, accounting, with limited real-world experience, and on the top of this, I have a heavy Eritrean accent. Given all these handicaps, I felt that I was doomed to fail and wouldn’t last long at UD. But Prof. Sloane was very gracious in encouraging me and advising me that I can be successful if I am committed to do my best.

I was assigned to teach two sections of Intermediate Accounting I. The other sections were taught by Prof. Robert Paretta, a highly admired instructor with a track record of helping students to do well on the CPA exam. Those students who could not get into his class where enrolled in my sections. The students did not know who I was and were anxious to see me. On the first day of class, I could literally hear their disappointment when they saw me stepping in the classroom.  For most of them, I was the first Black instructor they ever had. Incidentally, in 1978, the year I joined UD, there were only six African heritage faculty members out of about 1,000 faculty in the whole University. I am now the only one of the six who is still around, giving me the distinct honor of being the most senior African heritage faculty member at UD, in terms of longevity. Of course, UD is much more diverse now.

My first week of teaching was unforgettable. I was bombarded with questions by my students who were skeptical about my qualification to teach the course. Undeterred by their unwelcoming gestures, I tried my best to assure them that I knew my stuff and I did my best to teach the class to the best of my ability. I was strong in my knowledge of accounting, but I never took a course on how to teach. Hence, the method of teaching I followed was that of my most favorite college instructor, who taught me my first accounting course at the University College of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. This was the instructor who embarrassed me the first week of the semester by asking me a question that I was not able to answer. That embarrassing experience helped me excel in her class, and from that day on, I came well prepared for each lesson. She was the best professor for me, which is why I tried to be like her to my students.

But when the course evaluations were released after the end of the first semester, it was like a cold shower. Students were divided into two distinct groups—one that really liked me and admired my teaching and another who did not like my teaching approach at all. Immediately, I decided to see my Department Chair, William Markell, for counseling. To my surprise, he was very encouraged by the nice student comments and told me not to be bothered by the negative ones. But that did not sit well with me. I really wanted to do better.

Luckily, I found the Center for Teaching Effectiveness, which was a blessing. I made an appointment to see the Center director and told him about my concerns. The director was eager to help and agreed to observe my class and record a video of my teaching. When I sat with him to review the footage of my performance, he told me that overall, my teaching was okay, but I had made a cardinal error in my approach. My biggest mistake was to assume that every student was like me. He told me that my favorite instructor was good for me and students like me, but her teaching approach was not effective for several of the students who never liked to be randomly called upon to answer my questions. That opened my eyes to modifying my teaching approach to appeal to all students. The most important lesson I learned was: Never assume that all students are like me.

To my surprise, I was selected to receive the departmental Outstanding Teaching Award in my second year at UD.  The Dean who hired me was so pleased that he invited me to lunch. During lunch, he admitted that he had some apprehensions about how long I might survive. He wondered if the students would accept me and openly told me that he was very pleased with his students who did not care about the color of my skin or my Eritrean accent.  Since then, I have won several teaching awards at the departmental, college and University level, including the esteemed University of Delaware Outstanding Teaching Award, which includes a brick inscribed with my name at the Mentors’ Circle, in front of Hullihen Hall.  I was once nominated by my dean, Dr. Eric Bruker, for the state Professor of the Year. In addition, I was given an award by the Association of Deans of Business Schools in the Mid-Atlantic Region for my innovative course design of the Auditing course that incorporated, writing skills, oral presentations, and teamwork.  I was also given international recognition by Price Waterhouse who invited me to give a presentation of my auditing course at an international conference of Auditing professors. Having satisfied the research productivity expectation, I am the only one in my Department who has attained the rank of a full professor on the basis of my teaching excellence. 

I am grateful to the late Dr. William Markell, who mentored me, encouraged me and supported me during his tenure as the department chair.  I am also equally indebted to all my former students who were appreciative of my teaching and who helped me to have a rewarding and gratifying 42-year career at UD. I am equally indebted to the University of Delaware for creating a conducive environment that supported my research endeavor and more importantly for making the resources such as the Center of Teaching Effectiveness that has helped me to excel in my teaching and generously rewarded me for my teaching performance.  I am very appreciative of the opportunity given to me by the University to be a Fellow of the Center of Advanced Studies that allowed me to spend a year doing research on teaching effectiveness. Among my most visible services at UD were the several years I served as the Grand Marshal of the University that allowed me to interact with the members of the Board of Trustees and many prominent dignitaries.  And of my proud moment was the time I received an award with a big check from Ernst and Young for the role I played in promoting diversity at UD as the Chair of the President’s Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity during President David Roselle’s tenure and as the Co-Chair of the Diversity and Equity Commission during President Patrick Harker’s Administration. I have also been privileged with the honor of being appointed by former Governor Jack Markel and Governor John Carney to serve as a member of the Delaware Board of Accountancy and as a member of the Audit Committee of the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System.

I am also very appreciative of the opportunity given to me by Coopers and Lybrand, the Gore Corporation, and the Siegfried Group, LLP, to acquire real-world experience during my sabbatical years and who provided me consulting opportunities that helped me to enrich my teaching. I am also most grateful to the University of Delaware who approved my request to spend my sabbatical to help my native country when it got its independence after fighting for 30 years.

Last but not least, I am very grateful to my former students who are contributing to the legacy fund for the “Araya Debessay Professorship.”

Looking back, I feel I was blessed to have made the decision to join UD that has become a prominent teaching and research institute.  My family and I had a very happy life during my tenure at UD.  My family was enriched by the birth of two children, who have become successful professionals. They have graced us with four grandchildren. Our son is a proud Blue Hen, with a BA and MBA degrees from UD and our daughter is a successful professional with BS and MS degrees in engineering from MIT and Berkeley. My wife, who served as a member of the Commission that drafted the Constitution of Eritrea,  and who had a successful professional career at DuPont is now happily retired, and I am looking forward to join her for a joyful retirement time.

The fall 2020 semester is my last teaching semester, and despite the challenges of teaching online due to COVID-19, to digital age students and teaching an accounting course to non-business students who emphatically told me that they would not have taken the course if it were not required, I am determined to make this last semester to be my best semester.