From student to professor, advisor, mentor, and friend – these are just some of the many hats Terry Bishop has worn over the length of his career at the NIU College of Business.
Terry began his journey as a professor in the college’s Department of Management in fall 1987. A prolific teacher, Terry taught nearly every course in the management department over the span of his 33 years in the college. Terry also taught in every MBA program
format as well as in many executive education programs. His publishing has focused in the area of human resource management strategies and practice, recruitment issues, labor law, total quality management, and business ethics.
The impact Terry has had on his students is extensive. Countless numbers of students and alumni, as well as faculty colleagues, have sought – and continue to seek – Terry out for his knowledge, wisdom, guidance, and friendship. He has been formally awarded the NIU Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award, a highly prestigious award granted to only a few faculty at the university in recognition of their excellence in the classroom, their academic rigor, and their engagement in improving instruction at the university. He also received the Ideal Industries Inc. Excellence in Teaching Award.
Among his many achievements and awards in and out of the classroom and with curriculum design, a particularly notable one is that Terry is among the founding members who broke new ground by designing the innovative and cross-functional UBUS 310/311 courses. UBUS 310 immersed students in all the business disciplines; while UBUS 311 immersed them in hands-on opportunity to apply what they learned. Created in 1996 and running through the mid 2010s, the approach was so noteworthy – particularly at the undergraduate level – that NIU and the courses were favorably spotlighted by AACSB International and other academic periodicals.
Put another way, Terry and his UBUS colleagues were well ahead of the curve with what they created and in the impact they made on so many lives in this and many other ways.
Yet Terry’s vantage point is unique because it includes alumnus status. A Red and Black Huskie through and through, Terry is a graduate-level alumnus of NIU. He earned his master degree in management from NIU in 1982. He then pursued and earned his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Iowa in 1987.
An unwavering champion of the NIU student, Terry also served as faculty advisor for well over 25 years for the NIU student chapter of SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management). In that time, he brought hundreds of HR professionals to campus to interact with students and provide professional
development opportunities to them. Under his leadership, NIU’s SHRM chapter received multiple outstanding chapter national awards over the years. So profound is the impact Terry made that dozens of alumni of the HR program reach out to him with job positions because they are intent upon bringing NIU HR-soon-to-be-graduates into their organizations.
In his spare time, Terry has served as a trainer, speaker, and/or consultant to several organizations that include Metropolitan Life Insurance, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Hewlett-Packard, and Sears, among many others. He is a frequently requested speaker in professional HR organizations in northern Illinois due to his broad and impressive depth of knowledge in the area of HR.
Terry and his wife Lilly are the proud parents of two sons – one of whom earned his bachelor degree in the college’s accountancy program and is currently pursuing his master degree in the MAS program.
Terry’s enthusiasm, commitment and all-in pursuit of excellence will be greatly missed. Even up to the very last day of the Spring 2020 semester and in the midst of quarantine, Terry embraced the spirit of the phrase: “NIU Huskies never quit.” He emphasized “never” and added: “NIU Huskies never quit. Not once. Nope. Never. Always persisting…till the game is won!”
by Sarah Marsh, Chair of the Department of Management, and Michelle De Jean, NIU Business Director of Marketing
