An avid Dallas Cowboys fan, Dr. Vaidya, known to many of his students as Dr. V, loves his job as an administrator and a professor. "I'm not doing what I do because I have to, but because teaching, being a part of student's lives, and helping the school become better is what I love to do."
Dr. Vaidya began at Texas Wesleyan as an Associate Professor of Management in fall 2004 and became the Associate Dean in June 2006. Part of his duties involve working with the Dean and the faculty on the school's process of AACSB International accreditation, a rigorous, globally recognized, high standard for business schools.
As for teaching, "I love the interaction with our students, made possible by our small class sizes. Getting to know the students, their thought processes, their goals, and their aspirations is very rewarding as a professor, as is helping them to be better world citizens. The personal touch Wesleyan provides is why so many students prefer us to a school where they are in an auditorium with 200 other students. I make it a point to get to know my students' names and try to understand what motivates them to perform at a higher level. There have been many occasions when I called my students 'my kids.' It's very satisfying to have that kind of relationship with the students."
Dr. Vaidya teaches strategic management, leadership, and international business. The class he enjoys teaching the most is the graduate leadership course. "Given the importance of good leadership for running a successful business or a nation, it is fun to discuss what our leaders are doing in the business and political world, and how they have progressed or failed to learn from the mistakes of past leaders. The intent is to get the students to critically analyze current (and past) leaders, evaluate themselves, and work on being better leaders for our community, our nation, and for the world. The graduate strategy class is very similar because we analyze current businesses through case studies and try to figure out what is and is not working with their strategies. The students enjoy and learn from evaluating companies and making strategic recommendations to those companies."
Growing up in Pune, India, Dr. Vaidya had always been fascinated by motorcycles and owns a Yamaha Roadstar Silverado which he rides in his spare time.
Besides cheering for the Cowboys and other local teams, he loves the "typical professor hobbies" of traveling, reading and watching movies.