![\"Baylor](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/carpenter-june26.jpg\")
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For more than two decades, Don Carpenter<\/a> (BBA ’81) has made it his mission to invest in Baylor students\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n The lessons he teaches in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business<\/a>\u00a0certainly matter. But ask former students what they remember most, and many will point not to a lecture or exam, but to a conversation or a word of encouragement from a mentor who believed in them when they needed it most.<\/p>\n “Students are why I do this,” Carpenter says. “The opportunity to help shape their lives and watch them grow is the greatest reward.”<\/p>\n That commitment to students earned Carpenter one of Baylor\u2019s highest honors. In 2025, the clinical associate professor of accounting and business law (and Baylor alum) received the Collins Outstanding Professor Award<\/a>, a recognition voted on by Baylor seniors that celebrates excellence in teaching and mentorship.<\/p>\n For Carpenter, however, the award was less about personal achievement and more about the relationships that have defined his career.<\/p>\n Known for beginning class with his legendary greeting, \u201cIt\u2019s accounting time!\u201d, Carpenter has a reputation for bringing energy and enthusiasm to a subject many students approach with apprehension. His classroom is filled with stories from decades of professional experience, practical lessons from the business world, and plenty of humor. But beneath the engaging teaching style is a deeper purpose.<\/p>\n “When you\u2019re speaking to students, you have to earn the right to be listened to,” he says. “No one owes you their attention.”<\/p>\n