Dr. Mike Annett has been walking MacEwan’s halls for a long time – he began his undergrad here in psychology before transferring to business and then to the University of Alberta to complete his Bachelor of Commerce.

Hearing about his father’s experiences in human resources got him thinking about business and he saw potential for himself in that field.

“I realized that human resources had three things that I really liked: psychology – the people element, sociology – the group element, and a business-practice focus,” says the 2024 Teaching Leadership Award recipient. 

Once in the field, he saw that he had an opportunity to improve the relationship between individuals and their workplaces – the bigger picture.

“There's a cartoon where the boss is yelling at the employee, who then goes home and yells at his spouse, who then yells at their kid, who then yells at the dog. We’ve heard enough of these stories,” he says. “I wanted to be involved in helping to make that a better situation for people - at work and at home.”

Dr. Annett spent the first 15 years of his career with the Government of Alberta. When he found himself working with a group of MacEwan students on a work-integrated learning project, it ultimately changed the trajectory of his career. 

“I was sitting in a room as a client and realized that I'd really like to be on the other side of the table as part of the system developing these students – they were amazing,’” he says. 

He applied to MacEwan shortly after, becoming a permanent faculty member in 2014. He hasn’t looked back. Since then, he helped refresh the HR Diploma and Degree Major, reinvigorated  the university’s Property Management minor, expanded work-integrated learning opportunities for students and chaired the review of the Bachelor of Commerce program. 

Dr. Annett is the second recipient of the Teaching Leadership Award, which was established in 2023. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and dedication not only to teaching, but also to improving teaching and learning opportunities at an institutional, disciplinary, community or societal level.

“To be recognized by MacEwan for the contributions that I'm making to our HR diploma program and degree major, and to our property management program is very validating,” says Dr. Annett. “This award means that what I've been doing is worthwhile.” 

And a lot of what he’s been doing is making sure his students are part of the big picture. It’s one of the reasons, he jokes, that he often serves as “wingman” to students at networking events, coaching them on how to connect and build relationships with business people, just as they will once they begin their careers outside of MacEwan. 

But leaving MacEwan’s classrooms isn’t in the future for this prof. 

“University teaching has become my just cause,” he says. “I can think of nothing I would rather be doing.”