ABYC Foundation names Volvo Penta's Magnus Gedda as 2021 Educator of the Year

Magnus Gedda - 2021 Educator of the Year © Volvo Penta

The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) Foundation has announced that Volvo Penta of the Americas' Magnus Gedda has been named a recipient of the 2021 Educator of the Year Award. Gedda will be the first industry recipient of the award.

Honoring instructors who are teaching and training future marine service technicians, the prestigious award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence as a marine industry educator.

"We had an extraordinarily strong pool of candidates competing for this year's Educator of the Year Award," said ABYC Foundation's Executive Director Margaret Podlich. "As a result, the judges took the unusual step of selecting two individuals."

Professor Anthony Margiotta, an instructor at College of the Florida Keys, was the other co-winner, according to Podlich.

Gedda is manager of product training at Volvo Penta of the Americas. In that role, he is responsible for developing and overseeing the marine and industrial product training programs for Volvo Penta dealer technicians, OEM partners and customers located in North, Central and South America. The training classes bring these individuals up to speed on product lines with design and function, and how to troubleshoot and repair them if issues arise.

"Under Magnus' leadership, we've been able to manage our training resources more effectively to better serve our customers," said Tony Kelleher, acting president of Volvo Penta of the Americas. "As a result, our ability to scale and deliver training options to a wider audience has significantly improved, and the most impressive part was the way Magnus was able to bring these efficiencies to fruition. His can-do attitude and approach to embracing change was no doubt the key driver in making it all happen."

Originally from Borås, Sweden, Gedda has worked for Volvo Penta since 2004 in a wide range of management positions in Sweden and the U.S. For three years, he traveled the world as a service manager with the Volvo Ocean Race. He has been in charge of product training with Volvo Penta of the Americas since 2015. In that role, he has supervised the training of more than 9,000 students — more than doubling student participation over the past five years.

"When Covid-19 restrictions made it impossible to hold in-person classes at Volvo Penta's training center, Magnus immediately pivoted to create a full curriculum of teacher-led online courseware, ensuring technicians continued to receive high-quality training and delivering a more robust learning experience," said Kelleher. "As a result, we are now able to offer a broad range of web-based and classroom courses. Student participation in our online learning classes increased from 12,000 in 2016 to 32,000 in July of 2021 under his inspired leadership."

In commenting on the reasons for Gedda's award, Podlich said: "We received a wonderful assortment of instructors from across the U.S. for this honor, and Magnus stood out in both the width and breadth of his work and accomplishments. We were especially impressed by the quick switch that Magnus and his Volvo Penta team made to online delivery of materials after Covid necessitated it. This training allows technicians in the field to stay up to date, empowering them to provide better customer satisfaction and keep boaters safe. That's a win all around."