George Fox University | Academics | Departments | Engineering | Faculty | Quality Teaching

2005-06 Undergraduate Teacher of the Year

George Fox wants to foster well-rounded engineers - engineers who can understand and integrate values and liberal arts into their work. It was that philosophy that drew Mike Magill west to Newberg.

By most standards, Mike was at the peak of his profession before coming to George Fox, and no one would have blamed him for staying put. Mike was chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Technology at Purdue University. He had made his way to Purdue by spending 11 years as a professor at Oklahoma State University. A colleague there mentored Mike and urged him to connect with students not just on an engineering level, but a spiritual level as well.

So he prayed. He prayed beginning in 1986 for "an opportunity to teach at a place like George Fox." The new engineering program at George Fox gave him the perfect fit to teach how he had wanted, and he moved to Newberg with his wife and three children in 2002.

From a boy who modeled his career after his father's, who was also a mechanical engineer, Mike has much to show for his efforts: nine major teaching awards. Those include the 2005-06 George Fox Faculty Achievement Award for Undergraduate Teaching, which came from his students. As one student noted: "His ability to teach is unmatched. He has an incredible heart for students."