2020 Teaching Award

Dr. Johannes Burkard, a professor in the Department of Economics at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, has been awarded the 2020 Rhineland-Palatinate Teaching Prize for his outstanding achievements in teaching. The “Rhineland-Palatinate Teaching Award” recognizes individual and outstanding teaching achievements by university faculty members and, in a sense, serves as a seal of quality. This year, ten faculty members were honored. The teaching awards are each endowed with 10,000 euros, which the recipients may use freely for official purposes. Minister of Science Prof. Dr. Konrad Wolf expressed his gratitude to the award recipients. “You do outstanding work and, at the same time, serve as important points of contact for students. Through your passion for excellent teaching, you shape and advance the higher education landscape in Rhineland-Palatinate. This award recognizes that commitment,” praised the Minister of Science. “Teaching is a very fulfilling activity in which you give, but also receive a great deal,” emphasized Johannes Burkard, who said he was “very happy” about the award. For him, being able to teach—to introduce students to the diverse subject matter of business law and to inspire enthusiasm for the field—is a great privilege. His classes thrive on interaction with the students. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Burkard was only able to offer his lectures via Zoom last semester. But even then, he encouraged participants to actively engage with the lecture. “I suggested to the students that they use their cameras instead of just showing a static image,” he explains. Only then was personal interaction possible—something he considers an essential part of teaching. Since 2004, Johannes Burkard has held a part-time professorship in private economic law in the Department of Economics at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. A native of Mainz, he worked as an assistant in the Business Law Division from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, he earned his doctorate from Johannes Gutenberg University and subsequently worked at an international law firm in Frankfurt. In addition to his teaching duties at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, the award recipient has also been actively involved for many years on the examination board for the Business Law track. In addition, the father of four sons works in the legal department of a bank in Frankfurt. For him, providing legal counsel to the company and teaching law in a practical manner complement and enrich one another. Prof. Johannes Burkard is grateful for the positive feedback his courses have received from students and for the recognition of the quality of his teaching by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was primarily the students who gave him very high evaluations. As a result, the Department of Economics nominated him for the Teaching Award. Since 2005, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate has awarded the Teaching Prize every two years to emphasize the importance of teaching and to recognize the great dedication of faculty members at their universities. Following Lothar Steiger, Prof. Dr. Frank Zeidler, and Prof. Dr. Jens Reinhardt, Prof. Dr. Johannes Burkard is the fourth Teaching Award recipient from the Department of Economics at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. Unfortunately, there is one downside to this event: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no in-person award ceremony this year.