Spears Business faculty, staff receive awards for teaching, research and outstanding service

Friday, June 29, 2018

A number of Spears School of Business faculty and staff are being recognized for outstanding teaching, research and service during the 2017-18 school year.

Instituted by the Spears Business leadership team for the first time this year, the awards are being presented to the following people:

• Engagement with Practice Award: Corey Baham, assistant professor of management science and information systems;

• Innovation in Pedagogy Award: Jeanine Porck, assistant professor of management;

• Power of Personal Award (faculty): Bruce Barringer, professor and head of the School of Entrepreneurship;

• Power of Personal Award (staff): Brandy Kennedy, administrative support specialist II in the Department of Management, and Marissa McIntyre, director of student academic services in the Chesapeake Energy Business Student Success Center;

• Best Paper Award: Greg Eaton, assistant professor of finance.

“These awards represent our commitment to excellence in research, teaching and service,” said Ken Eastman, dean of Spears Business. “I am proud of the recipients and how they embrace the need for innovation and for creating a positive environment here at Spears. We have a very dedicated group of staff and faculty and we are pleased to highlight a few of the individuals that make Spears Business such a special place.”

Baham is the first recipient of the award for Engagement with Practice, granted for new or extended engagement activities with practice (e.g., businesses, business people, recruiters, etc.). His proposal to bring agile software development into Spears Business should make the students’ experience more meaningful and practical.

Porck receives the first award for Innovation in Pedagogy. This award is presented to a full-time faculty member who applies a new pedagogy or one already in use in a new way. The assistant professor of management plans to introduce debriefings into the business simulation experience in order to enhance student learning.

Barringer, Kennedy and McIntyre are the first recipients of the Power of Personal award, recognized for most exemplifying the Spears Business brand statement (The Power of Personal) through their attention and care for students, faculty and external constituents.

Barringer’s “tireless but mindful” time spent with students, including the School of Entrepreneurship student advisory board, lunches with students two days a week, end-of-semester celebrations and holiday parties, hosting the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program candidates at his home, book discussions with students and other activities led to his selection.

Kennedy’s willingness to help “all students and always maintain a positive attitude and exuberant personality” was mentioned in one of her nominations. Also, it was noted that she can be counted on to help people in time of need and is “always positive, always helpful, always interested in others, and a joy.”

McIntyre does a “great job of making sure everyone’s opinion is heard and valued,” one person said of the director of student academic services. Another said, “Marissa is incredibly accessible, which is massively impressive for someone who is so in demand by faculty, cross-campus staff and students.”

Eaton is the winner of the Best Paper Award, presented to the faculty member who has the best paper accepted or published during the academic year. The paper, “Micro(structure) before Macro? The Predictive Power of Aggregate Illiquidity for Stock Returns and Economic Activity,” will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Financial Economics. It was chosen because it will reach a broad audience of practitioners, policy makers and regulators, and academics.