UCLA Anderson/Ziman Center's Eric Sussman Earns UCLA’s 2015 Non-Senate Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award

Robert Watson, chair of UCLA’s Committee on Teaching, announced the recipients of the 2015 Non-Senate Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award — and Anderson and Ziman Center’s own Eric Sussman is among them. Each year, only three UCLA non-Senate faculty are selected for this award, which Watson says is considered “a significant part of the total evidence for academic and professional attainment.”

Sussman’s outstanding contribution to students’ education and classroom experience is widely appreciated by Anderson real estate MBAs. “Professor Sussman’s level of engagement and attention to detail are second to none,” said his student Jack Agresta ('15). “With a deep understanding of the subject matter and a profound work ethic, he's the type of leader you never want to disappoint, which encourages you to always do your best. His expectations are a thing of legend, but also a rite of passage, and I leave Anderson a better person for having studied under him.”

Sussman graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1987 with a B.A. business economics from UCLA and he earned his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 1993. A licensed CPA, he joined the Anderson School faculty as lecturer in 1995 and was advanced to senior lecturer in 2011. In addition to his teaching, Sussman is also a successful entrepreneur, with extensive experience in real estate and investment management. He is chairman of the board of trustees at Causeway Capital, an employee-owned investment management firm, and a member of the board of directors at Bentley-Forbes, LLC, a private, real-estate investment firm.

In a joint announcement, Dean Judy Olian and Faculty Chairman and Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs Randy Bucklin said:

In his 20 years in the Anderson School classroom, he has proven to be a versatile and enormously popular instructor; he has taught undergraduates, MBA students, and executives in a wide range of Anderson programs, all to consistently rave reviews. He is a seven-time winner of the MBA Teaching Excellence Award as well as a six-time winner of the FEMBA Teaching Excellence Award. In addition, the Anderson School faculty has recognized Eric with both teaching awards for which he is eligible. In 1997, after only two years of teaching at Anderson, he received the Citibank Teaching Award. In 2008, the faculty awarded him the Niedorf “Decade” Teaching Award. Acclaim for Eric’s teaching has also been recognized nationally. In 2010, he was ranked ninth Most Popular Business School Professor in the U.S. by Bloomberg Business Week. More recently, he was ranked 20th among the Most Influential Business Professors Alive Today by top-business-degrees.net.

“What can you say about a guy like Professor Sussman?” asked Patrick Devitt (’15). He paid tribute to his professor with this answer: “His influence permeates the school — its faculty, students and staff. He is a renowned host for school related-events. He is the king of the cold-call and has an unmatched sense of humor. He is a sounding board for students' business plans and career aspirations. He has deep understanding of a number of subjects, including real estate, finance and law, and he is able to effortlessly impart his knowledge to students. Most important, he shows utmost care for his students and their mastery of the subject matter. Thank you, Professor Sussman, for being our coach, mentor, professor and friend.”

Among other major responsibilities, UCLA’s Committee on Teaching is charged with the annual selection of six members of the Senate, three non-Senate faculty, and five teaching assistants to receive awards for distinguished teaching. Joining Sussman in this select group of UCLA’s finest teachers are Pavel Wonsowicz, lecturer at the UCLA School of Law and director of the Academic Support Program, and Paige Greene, lecturer in mathematics.