Haslam College of Business Celebrates Faculty and Staff at Virtual Awards Ceremony

May 18, 2021

The Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, recognized the accomplishments of faculty and staff at its annual awards celebration. The honors were announced during a virtual ceremony in late April.

This year’s Outstanding Staff Award for Superior Customer Responsiveness went to the team in the Financial Information Office: Jessica Bartlett, Lindsey Brown, Jenny Colson, Jennifer Horner, Vickie Killion, Brittany Permaul, David Price, Ben Scheffler, Sherry Snider, Juliana Troxler and Denise Watson. The team was lauded for its creativity in devising efficient new ways to conduct business digitally during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, and for its patience as others in the college adapted to new procedures.

The Tim Williams Staff Award for Professionalism was awarded to the Undergraduate Advising team: Amy Anderson, Robin Anderson, Marg Basehart, Kendra Duncan, Brian Francis, Betsy Gullett, Lindsey Herrell, Cindy Keyes, Megan Laverty, Beth Maney, Kam Manuel, Karson Marsh, Ellie Mulherin, Brenda Perry, Ryessia Russell, Alysa Schoenfeld, Dwight Stooksbury, Keima Talley, Laura Trainer, Tracy Trentham, Merrill Walker, Jennifer Washick and Quannah Washington. The team received accolades for quickly pivoting to meet the needs of more than 5,600 undergraduate students and 1,200 first-time freshmen when the university shut down due to the pandemic.

The Technology-Enhanced Education team, consisting of Mark Collins and Jason Greenway, received the Outstanding Staff Award for Innovation and Creativity. With very little ramp-up time, Collins and Greenway enabled every Haslam course to be taught online. The team learned new technologies, held training sessions for faculty and was instrumental in monitoring virtual exams and producing videos for 2020 graduation ceremonies and orientations.

Tyler Milfeld (Marketing) was recognized with the Outstanding Doctoral Student Teacher Award. His nominators commended him on providing constructive feedback, making complicated concepts easier to understand and enhancing course material with real-world examples and exercises.

Richard Beem (Economics) received the award for Outstanding Doctoral Researcher of the year. Beem’s most notable achievement to date is a “revise and resubmit” with the Journal of Public Economics, the field’s premier journal.

The Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award went to Kimberly Sims, lecturer in the Department of Economics. Her nominators commended her for fostering students’ interest and curiosity in her topics, even in large sections of lower-level courses.

Adam Petrie, senior lecturer in the Department of Business Analytics and Statistics, was honored with the Richard C. Reizenstein Outstanding Commitment to Students Award. Student nominators mentioned that Petrie always makes himself available to answer questions and help his students, even when their questions go beyond what he is teaching.

Wenjun Zhou, associate professor in the Department of Business Analytics and Statistics and the Roy and Audry Fancher Faculty Research Fellow, received the Rising Star Research Award. She was commended for being at the forefront of business applications research, a critical emerging area in the field.

The Vallett Family Outstanding Researcher Award went to Chris Craighead, the John H. “Red” Dove Professor in Supply Chain Management and Haslam Family Faculty Research Fellow. Craighead was recognized for his impressive list of publications and for including doctoral students and junior faculty in his projects, uplifting them in the early stages of their careers.

The Volunteer Spirit Award went to Shay Scott, professor of practice in the Department of Supply Chain Management, executive director of the Global Supply Chain Institute and Benz Supply Chain Leadership Fellow. Scott was honored for his innovations and collaboration in program development, particularly redesigning SCM 506 for online teaching and developing the SCM 580 capstone course.

Tom Van Dorselaer, lecturer in the Department of Marketing and executive director of the Professional Sales Forum, was recognized with the Diversity and Inclusion Award. He was singled out for his dedication to creating an inclusive environment and his initiative to advance diversity through scholarships funded by corporate partners.

Mark Collins, distinguished lecturer in the Department of Marketing and director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Education, received the Bank of America Faculty Leadership Award. His nominators recognized him for his “uplifting, optimistic and can-do attitude” and “magical style of engaging with students.”

Lauren Cunningham, associate professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Management and director of research for the Neel Corporate Governance Center at Haslam, was honored with the Martin & Carol Robinson Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service Award. She received accolades for her classroom performance, curriculum development and research publications, as well as for mentoring Ph.D. candidates and serving as a member of the dean’s faculty advisory council and a junior faculty fellow for the Office of the Provost.

CONTACT:

Stacy Estep, writer/publicist, sestep3@utk.edu