Between the Peace Corps and teaching, Dr. Mark Simpson has traveled and lived all over the world. So it’s no surprise that he and his wife (whom he met in the Peace Corps and who teaches in FGCU’s College of Arts and Sciences) are both passionate about teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL. In fact, with a career reaching back to the early 1970s, you’d be hard pressed to find someone more qualified to teach it. Most recently, he’s been representing FGCU at the University of Rwanda, teaching English on a Fulbright grant.

When not traveling for work, Dr. Simpson is here in Fort Myers focusing on teaching his students the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to acquire to be successful teachers on their own. His teaching philosophy is very learner focused. “I evaluate my effectiveness as a teacher by the relationships I forge with my students,” he says. He also seeks regular feedback to ensure that what he’s teaching is vital to his students' growth. When students can trust him enough to tell him their story or consult with him about the different cultures he’s experienced, that’s when he knows he’s really making a difference.

Human culture demands we pass on what we know to future generations. That’s why Dr. Simpson feels it's the most noble profession in the world. To him, “Teaching is both an art and a science. We must learn the science in order to teach effectively. But the art…that must come from the heart.”