What the Best College Teachers Do

Ken Bain is an award-winning writer, historian, professor, educational consultant, and founder of several teaching centers at universities across the United States. Bain began his career with the history faculty at the University of Texas-Pan America (now part of UT-Rio Grande Valley), where he founded the university’s teaching center in the 1980s. He subsequently established teaching centers at New York University, Vanderbilt University, and Northwestern University, and was Provost at the University of Washington DC. What the Best College Teachers Do is a global bestseller and won the Virginia and Warren Stone Prize in 2004. Bain’s follow-up book, What the Best College Students Do, also became an international success and was awarded the same prize in 2012. As of 2023, he acts as president of the research institute, Best Teachers Institute. His historical research, on which he has published several books, focuses on US foreign policy. Bain’s teaching philosophy emphasizes active deep learning over rote memorization, and his work has inspired countless university instructors in the US and beyond.