Dr. Derek Yonai, the Lundy Chair of the Philosophy of Business at Campbell University’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, was one of three professors who received the Spirit of Inquiry award from the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education. The awards ceremony was held on Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Umstead Hotel in Cary, N.C.
The annual awards are given to North Carolina professors in recognition of outstanding courses that have been nominated by students and selected by a panel of judges. Named the “Spirit of Inquiry,” the award symbolizes the Pope Center’s belief that college courses should reflect a spirit of open-minded exploration within the guidelines of a particular discipline. In addition to promoting inquiry, winning courses must also be interesting and challenging. The Broyhill Family Foundation of North Carolina provided financial support for the award.
Yonai received the award for his course, “World of Business,” a course that allows students the opportunity to ask the “big questions” about the fundamentals of business such as why it exists and what institutions are necessary to support private enterprise.
“Students should leave a course with something they didn’t have before—a trained mind,” said Yonai.
Dr. Derek Yonai holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California at Irvine and masters and Ph.D degrees in economics from George Mason University. He also graduated cum laude from Whittier College School of Law. Yonai came to Campbell in 2003, was named the Lundy Scholar that same year and became the Lundy Chair in 2007.