Syracuse's 2017 Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence A...

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Syracuse's 2017 Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence Award

Michael Wodchis

Michael Wodchis has held numerous executive positions with prominent insurance companies and distributors and currently serves as vice president of strategic alliances/business development at Windsor Insurance Associates, a company under the umbrella of National Financial Partners (NFP). Michael Wodchis prepared for his career by earning a bachelor’s in economics and politics from Syracuse University.

Leonard M. Lopoo, director of the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, received the Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence Award and Professorship at the convocation of the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs (PAIA) on June 30, 2017.

The annual award recognizes a professor who has demonstrated excellence in teaching in the area of PAIA. Students nominate teachers for the award, and a committee of previous awardees chooses the recipient. In addition to holding the professorship for four years, the recipient of the award gives the faculty address at the following year’s PAIA convocation.

Mr. Lopoo has served as the professor of public administration and international affairs at the Maxwell School since 2003. He conducts research on the family, particularly issues related to marriage, maternal employment, fertility, and social welfare. He also cofounded the Maxwell X Lab, which analyzes policy and program outcomes through the use of behavioral economics and social science.
 