Congratulations to Dr. Camillo Lento
Congratulations to Dr. Camillo Lento, who received a Distinguished Instructor Award at the Lakehead University Senate meeting held in November.
Dr. Lento joined Lakehead’s Faculty of Business Administration in 2007 and quickly established a reputation as an enthusiastic, knowledgeable, compassionate, and helpful teacher, winning a Contribution to Teaching Award in 2010. Students consistently praise him for making challenging and often technical material comprehensible and interesting. As one of his students writes, he makes accounting “more interesting than just numbers” by using “lots of real-world examples.” Students commend his use of a diverse range of teaching techniques to ensure that all students understand the material, and frequently note that he is always very helpful when students need assistance or have questions. One of his students describes Dr. Lento as “one of the most influential people in my life. … [Dr. Lento] teaches with such compassion and knowledge [and] every lecture is an inspiration to learn, and to be better at all you can be.”
Dr. Lento is an innovative instructor. He has co-authored a casebook based on his teaching practice that is now in its third edition and has been adopted across the country. He is committed to active learning and has developed a flipped classroom design for introductory financial accounting that has resulted in improved student performance and reduced dropout rates. Using Doodlecast Pro, an iPad app, he has created whiteboard voice-over videos for use in course management systems. In addition, he has created many experiential learning opportunities for his students, such as having his students complete tax returns for international students.
He is also a leading scholar in accounting education, publishing numerous articles in the major journals in the field. As of 2018, he was tied for 24th in the world amongst accounting education scholars according to an annual survey published by Brigham Young University, and one of his most recent articles on accounting education has been nominated for an American Accounting Association best paper award. He has also given many workshops on teaching and learning, and was the recipient of an Award of Distinction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2013.
He has successfully supervised many graduate students, and served as a valued faculty mentor to students at all levels. Particularly noteworthy is the success that his students have achieved in national case competitions, often winning such events.
Finally, he has played a significant educational leadership role in the Faculty of Business Administration, helping to develop the assurance of learning processes within the Faculty as it pursued AACSB accreditation, and taking the lead in pursuing CPA Ontario Accreditation, which led to the development of a Graduate Diploma in Accounting. He has also actively been involved in working on issues related to teaching and learning through CPA Ontario.
Dr. Lento is clearly a distinguished instructor who has made important contributions to teaching and learning at Lakehead and within the accounting profession. In the classroom and as a supervisor and mentor, a scholar in accounting education, and an educational leader, he has made valuable and significant contributions to teaching and learning and is a deserving recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Instructor Award.
