Dr. Chad McKay represented Wilmington College as its 2024 Teaching Excellence Award winner at the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection’s (GC3) 37th annual Celebration of Teaching event. He and 22 other award recipients from GC3’s other member institutions were recognized for their dedication to teaching.
McKay chairs the Agriculture Dept as an associate professor and a faculty member since 2015. His primary areas of teaching include Agricultural Business, Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Finance. WC’s Student Government Association selected him last spring as the 2023-24 faculty member of the year.
Wynn Alexander, vice president for academic affairs, said the honor recognizes McKay’s excellence in teaching. “Chad, who serves as Endowed Professor of Agricultural Business and Leadership, along with his fellow faculty members in the program, have created a first-class, comprehensive curriculum that fully utilizes an applied approach and takes advantage of the hundreds of acres of the College’s farm,” Alexander said. “You’re just as likely to see Chad on a tractor as you are to see him in a classroom.”
In addition to teaching, McKay serves the College as a member of the Tenure Promotion and Review Committee, Higher Learning Commission Planning Committee and the Arboretum Committee. Also, he is on the North American College and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Board of Peer Reviewers.
On campus, he is the advisor to Sigma Alpha Sorority, a professional agricultural sorority that promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship among its members, and he serves as the advisor to Delta Tau Alpha, an American scholastic honor society for the field of agriculture. In the Wilmington community, McKay serves as a board member on the Scholastic Achievement Council, the Wilmington City School’s first academic achievement honor society.
McKay is a graduate of Wilmington College with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. He earned his Master of Science degree at Southern Illinois University and his Ph.D. from Xavier University. During his free time, he and his wife, Amanda, and their two Scottish Terriers enjoy traveling and “tinkering” with their antique tractor collection, which ranges in models from the 1930s to the 1960s.
The GC3, formerly known as the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of College & Universities, advocates for higher education and uses the collective strength of its institutional members to positively influence the value of higher learning in the greater Cincinnati region. It also promotes professional development and opportunities for collaborative learning to advance the effectiveness of all members.
PICTURED: From the left are Wynn Alexander, vice president for academic affairs; Chad McKay, GC3 Teaching Excellence Award recipient; and Jason Vest, GC3 Board member.