More than 200 students cast their votes for the Veishea faculty, staff and teacher’s assistant of the year awards, given out during the Veishea recognition reception on April 19.

Pol Herrmann, assistant professor of management, was selected as the overall Veishea faculty member of the year.

“It feels absolutely great to be honored,” he said. “It’s something I never expected.”

Herrmann said he came to Iowa State two years ago after finishing his doctorate at University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan. He focuses his teaching skills on instructional and strategic management of undergraduate students.

To help his students understand methods, Herrmann said he uses techniques and technological tools such as PowerPoint presentations, interactive classes and modern cases management.

His wide use of teaching methods were recognized earlier in the year when he was awarded the Dean’s Advisory Council Undergraduate Award. The College of Business gives the award to professors who show outstanding work in areas such as course content and teaching evaluations.

“He’s incredibly bright,” said Russell Laczniak, professor and chairman of management. “He is very articulate and extremely poised.”

Ballot boxes were available for voting for a two-week period and were placed in various locations around campus. Veishea Faculty Coordinator Andrea Meyer said the library was a popular location followed by the Memorial Union.

“We were pretty pleased and happy with the turnout,” she said.

Meyer, freshman in chemical engineering, said some colleges had an overwhelming voting turnout, while others struggled to contribute their part.

“We did have an increase in the number of nominations from the students, and we were happy about that,” said Tyson Stichka, Veishea faculty coordinator and junior in electrical engineering. “Some of the students turned in really good nominations, and that made it a really tough decision.”