John J. Olivo

Collegiate Teacher of the Year
The NBEA 2004 Collegiate Teacher of the Year is John J. Olivo, professor and department chair at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

Dynamic in the classroom, philosophical about learning, and totally involved are qualities that characterize Olivo’s 28-year teaching career. Inspired by creative scholars, Olivo believes active students make better performers, and teachers who demand excellence will get results. "I give 100% to my planning, preparing, and teaching…to demonstrate to my students what teaching and business education are about and inspire them to be lifelong learners," he says.

The key word in Olivo’s methodology is "demonstrate." A former student, now a teacher, writes, "I find I am looking back [at] how he delivered a lesson using demonstrations, cooperative learning techniques, stories, and real-life examples." It is a learning-by-doing model that draws students into projects as the basis for learning. Creative teaching, says Olivo, requires "out of the box" thinking. "What is important is the ability to try new things (even when they fail) and to learn from your mistakes."

Olivo’s student-centered methods draw student teachers to his classes, where they adopt him as mentor. One teacher credits him with shaping her successful career: "Dr. Olivo has been a strong force in my professional life…. The most valuable lesson he passed on to me is…the [way] in which a teacher is dedicated to the overall personal success of his or her students."

Olivo is active in university and professional organizations. He has secured over a million dollars in grants and been instrumental in restructuring Bloomsburg’s business education department to become programmatically diverse. At the NBEA annual convention, Olivo has presented workshops for eight years and has served on both NBEA and NABTE curriculum committees. His creative ideas have appeared in many association journals.

A self-admitted extrovert and optimist, Olivo has spoken at conferences in 23 states. You saw him onstage at the NBEA convention Friday night party. One of his students captured him perfectly in a "dear professor" letter: "You have the knowledge of a 100-year-old professor and the creativity and enthusiasm of a first year professor!"

NBEA FORUM, Vol 59, No. 1, October 2004, Pgs. 36-37, National Business Education Association, Reston, VA