Distinguished Educator Award Highlights Ahmed Goma’s Impact on His Students
Goma has taught accounting at Manhattan College for 30 years.
Throughout the past three decades, students in Manhattan College’s O’Malley School of Business have had the chance to learn about balance sheets and life lessons from Ahmed Goma, Ph.D. Goma was recently recognized for his work with Manhattan College’s Distinguished Lasallian Educator Award.
Teaching is a two way street for Goma, an associate professor of accounting, CIS & law. “I love my students like I love family, and I have made great connections with my students and we still keep in contact today,” Goma said. A professor of all levels of accounting who teaches graduate and undergraduate courses, Goma has taught current members of the College’s board of trustees and fellow faculty members such as Aileen Farrelly ’95, assistant dean of the O’Malley School of Business.
His colleagues recall the timeless lessons Goma has shared with his students. “No faculty member in the School of Business has given more of his time, effort, and spirit to help students learn the subject matter in his courses, to support them in their extra-curricular activities, and to guide them in their careers and life than Ahmed,” says James Suarez, Ph.D, dean of the O’Malley School of Business from 1991-2009.
Goma began his time at Manhattan College in 1989 after receiving his undergraduate degree at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, one of the oldest universities in the world. He later earned his doctorate degree at the City University of New York.
Goma studied business at Al Azhar, and was drawn to Manhattan College due to its business programs and its faith-based mission, which he carries outside the classroom, volunteering with Muslim-based organizations throughout the tri-state area.
“I have a strong faith and belief system because I came from a religious family. I memorized the Quran when I was 10 years old,” Goma said. “Faith is very important in my life and teaching and the way I organize my classes is similar to worship.”
In the classroom, students feel that Goma has been a bright light in their journey as a undergraduate. “He seamlessly implements current real-world examples into his lectures to help students understand some of the more complex topics being discussed in his classes,” says a current senior. “Goma pushes each and every one of his students to go outside of their comfort zone and test our limitations of our academic knowledge. He doesn’t just make class informative, but he also makes it fun with his humor.”
Since the award was established in 1987, Goma is the first faculty member in the accounting department to receive the Distinguished Lasallian educator award.
Each year as part of the global Lasallian educational movement, Manhattan College seeks nominations for distinguished Lasallians of the year, who exemplify the highest of Lasallian values to students, colleagues, and community members. They are persons of faith who teach by example and give life to the Lasallian values that animate and sustain the core identity that inspires the mission of Manhattan College as a Lasallian Catholic college.
by John Dove '18