2019 Teaching Excellence Award

Clinical Associate Professor of Exercise Science

Michael Danduran, a clinical associate professor in the Exercise Science program, has spent more than 20 years working with children in a clinical setting. It’s this type of work that helped shape his classroom philosophy.

“With kids, there’s this enthusiasm required for participation — and I carried that style into the classroom at Marquette,” he says. “It’s a challenge because you have 50-some students coming through on a given day with different moods, and keeping them engaged can be tough.”

Danduran’s students appreciate his commitment to enthusiastic teaching. “Mr. Danduran was a phenomenal professor who made class fun and interactive on a daily basis,” one former student writes.

“I teach through stories, through daily experiences and through human expressions. It allows for a human side to the textbook descriptions of clinical scenarios,” Danduran says. “At the end of the day, we work for these students, and giving them anything less than our best — than our learned experiences — is cheating them.”

As another of his students said in her recommendation letter for Danduran, “Mr. Danduran has left a lasting impact on me as a current student and future clinician …[he] should be presented with the Teaching Excellence Award because of his commitment to his students. He is actively shaping the future clinicians of the world. Nothing would serve him more than to know his work and energy he pours into his students is recognized.”