Newsmaker
Monday, August 18, 1997
Name: Peter Johnson
Age: 30
Education: Southern Utah University
Occupation: Teacher, BYU-Hawaii
Hobbies: Basketball, spending time with two daughters
When Peter Johnson arrived on the Brigham Young University-Hawaii campus four years ago to teach accounting, he was 26 years old and not far removed from his days as a college student. An active education
"I remembered quite clearly how it used to be when I was sitting behind a desk and trying to grasp something that was very difficult," said Johnson.
Drawing from his own struggles, Johnson adopted a teaching style that has helped students overcome the complexities of such subjects as accounting, auditing, and corporate and individual taxation.
By promoting group projects and class discussion, he said, he gives students the chance to be active in their educational pursuits.
Mike Sanft, president of the Associated Students of BYU-Hawaii, said students responded enthusiastically to Johnson.
"He was always willing to listen to students and to hear out their suggestions," he said.
The student body recently recognized Johnson's efforts by voting him BYU-Hawaii's Teacher of the Year. Teaching awards are nothing new for Johnson, who had already been twice named Teacher of the Year for the School of Business.
What began as a one-year leave of absence from his job as a certified public accountant in Salt Lake City, has become four years of teaching bliss for Johnson. "I just fell in love with the students and their excitement for learning," he said. "And I felt I had something to offer them."
Despite his teaching success, Johnson recently left BYU-Hawaii to pursue a doctorate degree in accounting at Arizona State University.
BYU-Hawaii President Eric Shumway said Johnson will be sorely missed. "When you have a bright, intelligent, articulate teacher who has such compassion for teaching and working with students, you've got a real find," Shumway said. "He's a gem and we wish him all the best."
By Neal Iwamoto, Star-Bulletin
