OSU Spears School of Business wins Presidential Fellows award, other honors

Monday, April 18, 2016

Vice Dean Ramesh Sharda, President Burns Hargis, Spears School of Business Dean Ken Eastman and Graduate College Dean Sheryl Tucker — Vice Dean Ramesh Sharda, OSU President Burns Hargis, Spears School of Business Dean Ken Eastman and Graduate College Dean Sheryl Tucker

Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business won the Presidential Fellows Grand Three Minute Challenge College participation award April 15.

The OSU Presidential Fellows’ Grand Three Minute Challenge (3MC) celebrates the success of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) and the Three Minute Presentation (3MP) in a head-to-head competition of winners from the OSU 2015 3MP and the 2016 3MT. The Presidential Fellows participation award was awarded to the Spears School for being the OSU college/school with the highest percentage of students participating in the competition.

“Professional development activities such as the 3MP make our data science, analytics and MBA programs even more powerful for our students,” said Ramesh Sharda, dean of the Watson Graduate College of Management in the Spears School of Business. “It’s an honor to be recognized for having the highest percentage of participation in the competitions.”

Raqhav Nargotra, an OSU MSIS master's student, tied for third place in the competition.

The Spears School’s Raqhav Nargotra, master’s student in Management Science and Information Systems (MSIS), tied for third place in the competition with “Data: How is it changing the future?” and Rajesh Tolety, pursuing a master’s degree in business analytics, won the People’s Choice Award with “Predictive analytics: Breakthrough in personalized healthcare.” Presenters have only three minutes and a single static slide to explain their research and its relevance.

“We are pleased that our students in the masters programs won two out of the four slots available,” Sharda said. “Raqhav and Rajesh are excellent students, and we couldn’t be more proud of their accomplishments.”

The 3MC is sponsored by the OSU Presidential Fellows, which is a unique society made up of passionate and loyal OSU alumni and supporters. They support the larger priorities of our University through the President's leadership and provide resources that allow projects and initiatives related to the ongoing transformation of the OSU campuses.

Rajesh Tolety, an OSU MSIS master's student, won the People's Choice award. — Rajesh Tolety, an OSU business analytics master's student, won the People's Choice award.

The Three Minute Thesis is a professional development activity developed by the University of Queensland Australia in 2008. 3MT trains graduate students in research-based degree programs to present what they do and its societal relevance in a concise, understandable and engaging manner to educated but non-specialist audiences. More than 140 students participated in this year’s competition.