Naperville resident named top Aurora University teacher
David Dial of Naperville, Aurora University associate professor and chair of criminal justice, was recently recognized as AU's 2020 Marcus and Mark H. Trumbo award winner for excellence in teaching. Nominated by students and fellow faculty members, the award is the university's most prestigious faculty recognition.
Dial, former Naperville police chief, was lauded as "an exceptional teacher, skilled department chair, powerful advocate for students and enthusiastic campus citizen." He was described as caring, passionate, dedicated and knowledgeable.
Dial joined the university in 2012 after retiring as Naperville chief of police from 1990, ending a 45-career in law enforcement.
He graduated from the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police. In Naperville, he attended the FBI's Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar and became a charter member of Police Futurists International.
Dial is a former chairman of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group and a past-president of the DuPage County Chiefs' of Police Association. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs' of Police Community Policing Committee, a former board member of the Illinois Association of Chiefs' of Police, and the Illinois State Terrorism Task Force.
He also chaired the Homeland Security Committee for the DuPage County Chiefs' of Police Association.
Dial earned bachelor's and master's degrees from San Jose State College and the University of Colorado, respectively, and attended the FBI national academy. In 2006, he earned a second master's degree with a major in Homeland Security and Defense, from the United States Naval Postgraduate School. After graduating from college, he took a two-year military leave of absence from the Milpitas, Calif., police department and served for a year as a military intelligence officer in Vietnam, earning three bronze stars for meritorious service.
Inaugurated in 1976, the Trumbo award recognizes the finest work of fulltime AU faculty as teachers, mentors and scholars.