Most people wouldn’t get away with not preparing for class, but one St. Thomas professor can pull it off on a daily basis.

And he just happens to be the 2016 Professor of the Year.

“I never use powerpoint. I tell students that if I come in with more than a post-it note full of lecture notes then they all get an A for the semester,” said engineering professor John Abraham. “I am not constrained by my next slide or the next notes or even a syllabus … I can go where the students are passionate. And for me, that is an important way to not only make them passionate about the class but also see the potential in the class.”

Professor of the Year may seem like a singular award, but for Abraham it’s more representative. He found it “very humbling to be nominated and selected” but takes more institutional rather than personal pride in it.

“I think it’s wonderful to work at a university that rewards achievement, whether it’s me or someone else,” Abraham said. “We have so many high-performing people that it’s just great to be in this organization. I am not someone who likes to seek out personal rewards. I just like to work at a school where excellent work is done.”

Abraham knew he wanted to be a professor when he began tutoring at the University of Minnesota, where he received all three of his degrees.

“I just loved to take complex ideas and conveying them in a way that people understood,” Abraham said. “Then light bulbs would go off, and people would get really excited.”

Although Abraham has a passion for teaching, he calls himself a “researcher at heart.”

“Being a professor allows me to satisfy both of those desires. I can teach great students in a great environment, and I can also work on real cutting edge research,” Abraham said. “It is taking these tools and making the world a better place.”

Work is a hobby for Abraham, leaving him to rely on his family to counterbalance his workaholic lifestyle.

“My kids are my inspiration. They remind me that there is this world around us, and it’s extraordinary if we only open our eyes and pay attention,” Abraham said. “When I am with my kids, I am reminded about the importance be being present now, and to me that is inspiring.”

He even calls his wife during lectures at times because he thinks it “brings a personal vibe to the lecture.”

Abraham has many academic accomplishments on his résumés, but his presence in the classroom has the most impact on his students.

“He is always happy and really excited to teach class. He has a lot of enthusiasm about the course,” junior Michael Ryan said.

Whether Abraham is doing pushups in class or teaching his students about heat transfer, he keeps students involved and engaged.

“He uses students in his examples a lot. Coffee is an example of heat transfer, so anyone who brings coffee to class becomes part of the lecture,” junior Logan Klaers said.

Needless to say, students won’t be forgetting his lectures anytime soon.

“I want to be known as a world class researcher. I want people to know who I am and who St. Thomas is, both nationally and internationally, but I would also like to be known as someone who inspires students and helps students reach a level of achievement they never thought possible, both inside the classroom and research,” Abraham said.

Abraham lectures his students with their best interest in mind.

“He really cares about how his students do in his class. He wants everyone to do well,” Klaers said.

Abraham joined St. Thomas when the engineering program was growing, and for him it was exciting to be a part of something that was developing because it allowed Abraham to help shape the program’s trajectory.

“I wanted to help make St. Thomas an engineering school that I would want to go to. Not the kind that I went to. So it was really exciting to be ground floor of that,” Abraham said.

Abraham also hopes to leave behind a legacy at St. Thomas — but not a personal one. He wants to help put this university on the map.

“What I want to leave is a program and a university that is better than when I came in. I want us to be a recognized leader in education and research,” Abraham said. “I prefer to share acknowledgement and to recognize group work rather than individual work.”

Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.