You might say that Dave Lucas, associate professor of communication studies at Ohio University Southern, is having a banner year.

In the past 12 months alone, he has published his first textbook, taught classes throughout Asia, discovered a long-lost cemetery and now he has been named Outstanding Professor of the Year by the entire Ohio University regional campus system.

Despite the high praise, Lucas says he is humbled by the announcement, viewing it as a commentary on folknography, a research tool of his and his students’ creation, rather than his personal achievements.

“I felt like this sort of lends credibility to our research method and to the whole concept out of the classroom and into the field to do research,” Lucas said. “So it’s sort of a vindication that this is the right thing to do, and students do learn this way.”

A native of Indiana, Lucas was introduced to this region when he studied at the Kentucky Christian University. After studying at West Virginia’s Marshall University, Lucas spent 20 years as a motivational speaker before settling down in Appalachia again, receiving his doctorate and beginning teaching at OUS in 1990.

Now 16 years later, Lucas said that he’s stayed put, though he has received offers from other schools. Lucas said that he’s drawn to the Appalachian people, and the freedom that OUS has allowed him.

“The sole reason that I think that I stayed is because of my love for this area,” Lucas said. “Ohio University Southern is absolutely the unsung secret of southern Ohio. I always look at the next possibility, I like to be on the cutting edge, and they’re always out there with me. The dean (Dan Evans) laughs and says “We keep Dave on a leash, but it’s a long leash.’”

Although he’s been in southern Ohio for a decade and a half, Lucas still has a wanderer’s spirit. It has led him not only to teaching in Hong Kong, but leading a student groups to study in Mexico, Spain and Australia and researching a Native American tribe in Oklahoma.

Lucas will have a little bit of money for some more travel, as he’ll receive a $3,000 stipend in addition to the award.

But don’t expect him to be zipping out of town anytime soon: he’s just begun work on a new book about teaching, perhaps helping a few other professors to think, not just outside the box, but outside the classroom.