Leadership Council Recognizes Four Faculty With Excellence Awards

Over the past five years, the College of Business Leadership Council has presented members of our outstanding faculty with Faculty Excellence Awards in teaching, using technology in the classroom to improve learning outcomes, and for engagement with industry. This year, the Leadership Council added Faculty Excellence in Research to recognize outstanding research contributions by our faculty.

Four faculty were recognized at the Insider’s Luncheon for going beyond business as usual. The following are the 2018 award winners. Leadership Council members Mike McGranaghan, chair, and D’aun Norman, vice chair, presented the faculty with their awards.

Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching – Mr. Kirk D. Kern, lecturer, marketing department, and director of the Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The committee was particularly impressed with The Hatch program. The curriculum and program are designed to effectively teach any student at the University, regardless of year in school or degree program, to understand the basics of a business model and present an investment case to potential investors. The Hatch program has also been used in high schools throughout the country with more than 700 teachers using it to teach entrepreneurship. The quality of The Hatch program was a key factor cited by AACSB in recognizing the Hooker Center program as one the top 20 programs worldwide in the Entrepreneurship Spotlight Challenge in 2017.

Faculty Excellence in Using Technology to Improve Learning Outcomes – Dr. Amanda Cook, assistant professor, economics department.

The committee was impressed with Dr. Cook’s use of technology to improve student learning in large classrooms. Dr. Cook regularly deploys the effective teaching practice of providing frequent and consistent feedback with the use of MindTap online materials to provide structured and personalized feedback. The committee also noted the utilization of online websites in her courses to help students stay current in the rapidly changing field of health care economics.

Faculty Excellence in Engagement with Industry - Dr. Dwayne Gremler, professor, marketing department.

The committee cited the extensive utilization of business engagement activities throughout the curriculum in Dr. Gremler’s classes including marketing plans for local businesses, servicescape video case studies, service blueprints of local businesses, and class field trips. The committee also noted the large number of business practitioner presentations given by Dr. Gremler including executive courses and seminars for Fortune 500 companies and many regional and industry professional events. Dr. Gremler’s work exemplifies the mutually beneficial outcomes that can be achieved by academia engaging with industry.

Faculty Excellence in Research - Dr. David Dobrzykowski, associate professor, management department and director of the Supply Chain Management Institute.

The quality of Dr. Dobrzykowski’s work in the field of supply chain is evidenced by external recognition. His publications are in top journals in the supply chain management discipline and recognized on the Financial Times list of the Top 50 Business School Journals. He was named as one of the Top 50 Healthcare Management Professors by Health Care Administrator. As a new faculty member to the College of Business, the committee welcomes his expertise and passion for excellence in research.

Each of the faculty winners received a $5,000 award, along with a plaque. Congratulations to these faculty members for their achievements!