Educator of the year.

• Position: Final entry - Interview

CalCPA member Randy Hoffman, a lecturer in accounting at California State University, Fullerton, is this year's recipient of the CalCPA Outstanding Accounting Educator Award. The award recognizes contributions to accounting education from demonstrated excellence in teaching and research efforts. We picked his brain to learn more about the accounting education world, and what it takes to guide the future of the profession.

What did you do before becoming a teacher?

My career after graduating from USC as an accounting major began at Arthur Young & Company. Once I got my CPA license, I attended Harvard Business School and earned an MBA. I then started my second career when I joined the General Management Consulting Group at Booz Allen Hamilton. Next, it was a move into industry as vice president/controller of Bushnell, then a division of Bausch & Lomb. Three years later I became Bushnell's president and a corporate vice president of Bausch & Lomb. My desire to start a business got the best of me and I then spent the next 15 years as a serial entrepreneur. Along the way I served on a city planning commission, won the Republican nomination for a Southern California congressional district and served on the board of several tech startups.

Why the switch to teaching?

In 2002 I was between new venture opportunities when 1 learned a new California State University campus was opening in my county and needed instructors. I always thought it might be interesting to teach. When I applied, I thought teaching was just going to be a placeholder between new venture opportunities. However, teaching became a passion; it caught me by surprise on my very first graduation day. The students who had been in my classroom introduced me to their parents, spoke of the impact I had on their lives and thanked me for all they had learned. It was on that day I discovered my passion for teaching.

We hear your claim to fame is redesigning the Intro to Managerial Accounting course. What did that entail?

Managerial accounting is a core course in our undergraduate business curriculum. Every student who earns a bachelor's degree in business administration must take this course. In addition, students may not declare a major until they've passed this course. Prior to the redesign, approximately 43 percent of the students in the undergraduate business program had to take the course more than once. The traditional format embraced a relatively passive method of learning and placed a...