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Distinguished Faculty Award

David Faller Receives LFGSM’s 2011 Distinguished Faculty Award

2011 Distinguished Faculty Award Recipient David Faller.

> Previous Recipients 1987 to 2010

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (LFGSM) recently honored David Faller with the Distinguished Faculty Award for 2011. The Award is granted annually to a member of the faculty nominated by the LFGSM graduating class in recognition of excellence in inspiring and motivating students, commitment to academic excellence, intellectual rigor, teaching enthusiasm and integrity in student relationships.

Currently Senior Vice President and Head of Global FX at Penson Worldwide Inc., Faller has been a LFGSM faculty member since 2003, teaching courses in Global Business, Global Finance and Economics. Faller earned his MBA from LFGSM in 2003, graduating as a Hotchkiss Scholar and Valedictorian. Faller accepted the Award at the LFGSM Commencement Ceremonies held in the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom on June 26, 2011.

During the ceremonies, Class of 2011 graduate Michelle Hoffman introduced Faller as the Class of 2011’s choice for the Award. Expressing gratitude on behalf of the Class of 2011 to the entire LFGSM faculty, Hoffman highlighted her classmates’ sentiments in selecting Faller as this year’s Award recipient. Hoffman cited Faller’s enthusiasm for celebrating exploration and risk taking and for encouraging “thinking and not just doing.” Recalling Faller’s signature “it depends” response during classroom debates, Hoffman said, “What I realized was that he was pushing us to change our way of thinking – there wasn’t always just one right answer .” Thanking Faller for inspiring the Class of 2011 to strive for excellence, she said, “You taught us that excellence is within our reach.”

Accepting the Award, Faller emphasized the central role the students themselves play in the Lake Forest MBA learning experience. “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players, “he said, quoting Shakespeare. Comparing LFGSM to a “theatre of the mind,” Faller explained, “We set the environment and help move the play along but the real stars in this performance are the students. You are the ones who take the syllabus, the script as it were, and like method actors, internalize it. Through class discussions, presentations, case studies and papers, you bring the words and concepts to life in the classroom and in your business and private lives.”

Faller has more than 25-years of treasury and capital markets experience in trading and advisory roles in the foreign exchange, commodity and equity markets for a number of large financial initiations. He holds a BA from the National University of Ireland at Galaway, Ireland, and an MBA with a specialization in International Business from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. In addition, Faller has participated in post-graduate studies in economic integration at Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Previous Recipients 1987 to 2010

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