Faculty Excellence & Honors

Binod Guragai, Assistant Professor, was nominated this spring by the McCoy College of Business for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from among all faculty in the rank of Assistant Professor. As stated in the university policy, "The purpose of these awards is to recognize and reward superior accomplishments, to provide models for excellence for fellow faculty, to encourage all faculty to continue to perform, improve, and advance their teaching." 

Professor Guragai joined the accounting faculty in September of 2019, having previously taught for two years at the University of Nevada-Reno and having worked as a Sales Tax Auditor at the Texas State Comptroller's Office. He is a CPA and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He draws from his work experiences and training for his professional credentials to inform his teaching. While at Texas State, he has taught Intermediate I & II, Governmental Accounting, and Principles I & II.

Born in Nepal, Guragai came to the United States when he was 22 years old. He is a first-gen college student and a non-native English speaker. The challenges he experienced learning the English language and being first-gen have resulted in him having enormous empathy for students struggling with their accounting courses. Yet, he still has high expectations for their performance. "One of the most frustrating things for me as a teacher is to see a student who has so much potential and who is not putting forth the effort to earn higher grades." What he likes best about teaching is helping students understand the value of accounting in their daily personal and professional lives.

The accounting faculty colleague who nominated Guragai for this award included this description on the nomination form: "I have a wonderful image from the end of the fall semester when three students were in Dr. Guragai's office. One was seated across the desk from him with books and notes open, a second was standing behind the desk, looking over his shoulder, and a third was on one knee beside him. It truly was an 'accounting huddle.' I am always impressed with how patient he is with his students." 

When he was notified that he was the McCoy College nominee, Professor Guragai said he was delighted and humbled. "Teaching is truly my passion and I work with many great teachers in the McCoy College of Business. I am so honored because I feel like I am representing all of them to our colleagues across campus."