During the 95th Montana Society of CPAs (MSCPA) annual meeting awards banquet in Kalispell, Micki Munro, was awarded the MSCPA s Jack J. Kempner Outstanding Educator Award. She joined Bonita Peterson (2003) and Christie Johnson (2001) as Montana State University (MSU) College of Business accounting instructors who have won this award.

While Munro pursued her Master of Professional Accountancy degree, she first taught at the MSU College of Business as a graduate teaching assistant. After graduation, Munro worked in public accounting for Galusha, Higgins, and Galusha for two years and then was CFO for Yellowstone Harley Davidson in Belgrade before returning as an adjunct instructor of accounting in 2004. Her fellow professors and instructors recall that during an Advisory Board meeting, it was announced that Munro had received the highest student evaluations that semester, out of all the tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct faculty, which is a testament to her commitment to excellence.

In her years of teaching for the College of Business, Munro has served as the coordinator for BUS 221, Principles of Accounting, which required her to prepare the syllabi, all common exams and train new instructors. She was the sole instructor of ACCT 223, Principles of Accounting II, a course for those students wishing to earn a degree in accounting. Her students consistently comment on her ability to make accounting interesting while maintaining rigor in her courses and not compromising on grading standards. As a result, many of her students hold great respect and admiration for her.

"Micki is dedicated to teaching excellence and is an excellent teacher. She knows and conveys her topic material, and, more importantly, she is very humble and goes beyond her duty to help you succeed," recalls Tammy Stewart, a former student.

Kile Patrick, another former student, had this to say about Munro: "I truly loved her spirit and enthusiasm for accounting and for her students. If she had made this big of an impact on my college career, I know she has positively impacted other students as well. She is a great person, a great teacher, and a great mentor."

This dedication towards excellence in teaching was further supported when Munro received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching this last spring. The award was voted on by the College of Business faculty.

Besides her dedication towards teaching, Munro has been very active in the College of Business accounting program. She served on the Ernst & Young Excellence in Accounting Fund Committee, the Facilities Renovation Committee and was also an active member of the Accounting Advisory Board. In 2006, Munro was chosen to be the keynote speaker for the annual scholarship banquet and then for the Master of Professional Accountancy Program hooding ceremony in 2008.

Munro leads by example and is always thinking about how to help others. In the spring of 2008, a dream of Munro's finally came true. After much hard work and preparation, her vision, the Women's Circle of Excellence, had its first two-day premier event. The event focused on enhancing and enriching the lives of MSU College of Business alumnae and friends through mentoring, inspiration, networking and education. The event was very successful, with more than 80 women attending.

The College of Business has attributed the successes of its students to the quality of its professors and instructors. The MSCPA's Outstanding Accounting Educator Award acknowledges Munro's dedication to professional excellence and the high quality of her classroom instruction and student mentoring.

Munro completed her final year of teaching at the College of Business this spring. She will be greatly missed by students, colleagues and staff.