The Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, announced its annual Business Awards during a celebration held April 21. The awards recognize outstanding faculty and staff accomplishments.
This year the Superior Customer Responsiveness Award went to Sherri Pinkston of the economics department.
Pinkston was recognized for her role in coordinating cross-department efforts to assist Ph.D. students. One student said: “I would have been lost without her help in everything from filing forms for graduation to keeping my job search documents organized. She takes great personal interest in the students as individuals.”
The Tim Williams Staff Award for Professionalism was awarded to Lois Welch of the accounting and information management department. Welch’s duties include serving as the assistant to the department head and organizing Accounting Day, the Accounting Round Table and the Accounting 200 awards dinner.
A faculty member said: “Lois just makes it look easy. She is the consummate professional who always seems to find a way to make things happen for you.”
Kaitlyn Wray, of the finance department, received the Innovation and Creativity Award for her unique efforts to support her department and make it more efficient. She created a custom spreadsheet which compiles budget information in one place, updating it and estimating future expenses based on the prior year’s spending. Her innovation has allowed for more informed decisions based on identifiable trends.
Marianne Wanamaker, assistant professor of economics, received the Vallet Family Outstanding Researcher Award. Her work has examined black-white education inequality, black-white wage inequality, fertility, migration, child labor and energy conservation. All of her papers since December 2014 are in journals classified as premier, elite or very good, and she has been named a fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
This year the Richard C. Reizenstein award for outstanding commitment to students was presented to John Wachowicz, professor of finance. Despite being in his last year of teaching, Wachowicz has been in his office every day with his door open to students.
Missie Bowers, professor of business analytics and statistics, was awarded the Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award for her devotion to her students. “Dr. Bowers teaches her material in depth and very clearly,” said one student. “She is always available to help and has never let a student go without understanding.”
Terry Neal, professor of accounting, was awarded the Martin and Carol Robinson Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service Award for his exemplary record. During Neal’s tenure as director of the accounting and information management Ph.D. program, the program has seen increased quality in students, student research and student placement. Neal serves on more dissertation committees than any other accounting faculty member, as well as numerous departmental and college-wide committees.
This year’s Richard D. Sanders Award for Leadership in Executive Education was presented to Jim Reeve for his high standards in leadership.
Bruce Behn, associate dean for graduate and executive education, said of Reeve: “Jim Reeve is one of the most gifted teachers and innovative faculty members we have had in the Haslam College of Business. I had the privilege of shadowing him in my early years here, and he taught me many things about being an effective classroom instructor and how to bring real-world knowledge into instructional cases.”
The Diversity and Inclusion Award was presented to the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management with special mention being given to Diane Mollenkopf, Wendy Tate and Mary Holcomb.
In addition to the awards presented Thursday night, several faculty and staff members were honored for their service during separate awards ceremonies held in recent months.
In the MBA Program Awards, the Outstanding First Year Faculty Award was presented to Bogdan Bichescu, the Outstanding Second Year Faculty Award was presented to John Anderson and the International Students Appreciation Award was presented to David Ecklund.
In the Masters in Business Analytics Awards, the Outstanding Commitment to Students Award was presented to Bogdan Bichescu and the Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to Robert Mee.
In the Masters in Human Resource Management Awards, the Outstanding Faculty Award was presented to Cheryl Barksdale.
In the Executive Master’s Awards, the Professional MBA Outstanding Faculty Award was presented to Mandyam Srinivasan, the Aerospace and Defense MBA Outstanding Faculty Award was presented to Elaine Seat, the Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty Award was presented to Priscilla Wisner, the Physician Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty Award was presented to Don Lighter and the Physician Executive Outstanding Teaching Award was presented to Jody Crane.
