As Brenda Sternquist prepared to leave her hotel in India and brave the wilderness, she had no idea she was the recipient of an award that would be the highlight of her career.

The merchandising management professor checked her e-mail moments before she set off for the jungle and found a message from The National Retail Federation naming her the first Retail Educator of the Year.

"None of my friends were there," Sternquist said. "I didn't have anyone to tell. That was the worst thing."

A panel of academics and heads of national retail companies chose Sternquist for her 25-year commitment to retail education at MSU. In recent years, she has instructed both undergraduate and graduate courses in international retailing, buying and distribution.

Sternquist conducted her most notable research on retailing in Asia. She has worked in Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong and most recently, India.

Despite her nationally recognized work overseas, Sternquist said she was not always an expert on foreign merchandising. When the College of Human Ecology introduced a course on international retailing in 1987, Sternquist stepped up to become the first professor in the world to teach the subject, she said. "I had read everything I could possibly read, but I still felt so stupid," she said. "I didn't even know enough to ask intelligent questions."

She said she uses her early experience in the field to help relate to students who are unfamiliar with international markets.

A farmer's daughter from South Dakota, Sternquist said she was thrilled to be given an award by a national organization that honored her with a luncheon in New York and a stay in a luxury hotel.

"They treated me like a queen," she said.