Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Chancellor Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is the 2017 recipient of the Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching. The prize honors outstanding faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching, along with exemplary dedication to students and the UMass campus community.

Awardees hold the distinction of implementing unique, innovative or alternative pedagogies, or teaching methods that have deepened student learning. Established in 2015 by UMass Lowell alumni Robert and Donna Manning, the competitive prize carries a $10,000 award. The Manning's have provided support to offer a prize on each of the five UMass campuses for the next three years.

“At the heart of her teaching philosophy is a commitment to experiential learning, which prompts students to master concepts through real-life scenarios,” said UMass Dartmouth Provost Mohammad Karim via news release.

Barnes earned her PhD in Consumer Behavior from the University of Connecticut, and joined UMass Dartmouth faculty in 1985. Several studies on social media conducted at the Center for Marketing Research by students have been cited in Business Week, CNN, Fortune Magazine, Time Magazine, Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, NY Times, Washington Post, Reuters, MIT Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Marketing Management, and other business and academic publications.

In addition to her impressive record of scholarship featuring more than 180 publications, Barnes has been awarded numerous research grants and has been named a Senior Research Fellow and Research Chair by the Society for New Communications Research. She is the only faculty member in the history of UMass Dartmouth to receive both the Teacher of the Year and Scholar of the Year awards.