By Lacie C. Blankenship
From groundbreaking research to exceptional teaching, Vanderbilt Business faculty make meaningful impact in the classroom, in business, in scholarship, and throughout their communities. The highlights below represent just a few of the many accolades earned from Summer 2024 to Summer 2025. As we look ahead, we’re excited to celebrate what’s next, welcome new faculty members, and the continued fellowship that drives the Owen community.
Commencement 2025 Vanderbilt Business Faculty Awards
Vanderbilt Business faculty members cheer as their colleague, Professor Ramanujam, is recognized at Commencement 2025.
Professor McCann, James A. Webb Excellence in Teaching Award & EMBA Faculty Teaching Award
Brian T. McCann, David K. Wilson Chair, Professor of Strategic Management, was awarded the James A. Webb Excellence in Teaching Award and the Executive MBA (EMBA) Faculty Teaching Award.
Professor VanEpps, Dean’s Faculty Research Productivity Award
Eric VanEpps, Associate Professor of Marketing, was awarded the 2025 Dean’s Faculty Research Productivity Award, recognizing significant scholarly contributions.
Professor Ramanujam, Dean’s Faculty Research Impact Award
Rangaraj (Ranga) Ramanujam, Richard M. and Betty Ruth Miller Chair, Professor of Management, Faculty Director of Health Care Programs, Professor of Health Policy, received the Dean’s Faculty Research Impact Award, recognizing significant discipline impact through an extensive body of research.
Professor LeBlanc, Dean’s Faculty Teaching Award
Larry J. LeBlanc, Professor of Operations Management, was presented the 2025 Dean’s Faculty Teaching Award in recognition of his significant impact on student experience.
University Recognition
Professor Whaley, Emeritus Status
Robert E. Whaley, Valere Blair Potter Professor of Management (Finance), Director, Financial Markets Research Center, was bestowed Emeritus status by the University’s Provost, Chancellor, and Board of Trust after a distinguished 46-year career. Whaley, renowned globally for his expertise in derivatives, created the Market Volatility Index (VIX) for the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 1993, a pivotal metric now known as the “fear index.” He has been a cornerstone of finance education and scholarship at Owen and beyond and will be missed.
Professor Li, 2025 Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow
Bin Li, Associate Professor of Accounting, was named a 2025 Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow. The program recognizes early-career faculty members who have shown exceptional promise and provides them with funding and support to advance their work.
Professor Pool, appointed Justin Potter Professorship
Veronika Krepely Pool, Professor of Finance, was one of 33 Vanderbilt faculty members awarded an endowed chair this spring. She was appointed the Justin Potter Professorship, which was established by the late Mrs. Valere Blair Potter in memory of her husband, Mr. Justin Potter, a Tennessee businessman, dedicated philanthropist, and Vanderbilt alumnus.
Professor Kurtulus, 2025 Student Engagement Award, Undergraduate Education
Mumin Kurtulus, Associate Professor of Operations Management, received the 2025 Student Engagement Award from the Vanderbilt Office of Undergraduate Education. He was recognized for his service and impact on student life and learning as Faculty Head of Moore College.
Individual Scholarly & Industry Recognition
Professor Ramanujam, SMS Annual Conference Best Paper Prize
Professor Ramanujam received the Best Paper Prize at the Strategic Management Society (SMS) Annual Conference for the paper, “The Link Between Reliability and Resilience: The Moderating Effect of Human Errors in Accident Management.” This award honors conceptual soundness, originality, methodology, practical relevance, and clarity.
Professor Friedman, 20 Year Best Paper for Scholarly Impact Award, MOR
Ray Friedman, Brownlee O. Currey Chair, Professor of Management and Asian Studies, received the 20 Year Best Paper for Scholarly Impact Award from Management and Organization Review (MOR) with the paper, “Supervisor-Subordinate Guanxi: Developing a Three-Dimensional Model and Scale,” recognized as the most impactful scholarly contribution in the journal’s history.
Professor Whaley and his wife, Sondra, at the IAQF/Northfield Financial Engineer of the Year Award Dinner, May 2025.
Professor Whaley, 2024 IAQF/Northfield Financial Engineer of the Year Award
Professor Whaley was named the 2024 Financial Engineer of the Year by the International Association for Quantitative Finance (IAQF) and Northfield Information Services. The prestigious award recognizes individuals with significant contributions to the advancement of quantitative finance.
Professor Salerno, 2025 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors, Poets & Quants
Anthony Salerno, Associate Professor of Marketing, Director of the Owen Insights Behavioral Lab, was recognized by Poets & Quants as one of the “Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors” for 2025. While this award highlights MBA teaching, students across Owen benefit from his presence.
Professor Burcham, Nashville Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame
Michael Burcham, Professor of the Practice of Management, Faculty Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship (C4E), was inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame. Burcham, a serial entrepreneur, longtime leader in healthcare innovation, and Founding President and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneurship Center, was recognized for his pivotal role in the community.
Professor Riley, MMA Teaching Innovation Award
Jen Riley, Senior Lecturer of Marketing, received the 2024 Teaching Innovation Award at the Marketing Management Association (MMA) Fall Educators’ Conference for “Podcast Pedagogy,” a classroom strategy she co-developed. This follows her previous recognition with the 2023 Innovations in Teaching Award from the Society of Marketing Advances.
Vanderbilt Business Faculty Area Wins
Vanderbilt Business faculty ranks #2 all-time in Consumer Behavior research
Vanderbilt ranked #2 all-time in the area of Consumer Behavior, according to ScholarGPS’ 2024 research analytics. Notably, Vanderbilt Business is the only school with three faculty members in the Lifetime Top 25 for this research specialty:
Professor Escalas speaking at Commencement 2025.
Dawn Iacobucci, E. Bronson Ingram Chair, Professor of Management in Marketing (#2),
Steven S. Posavac, Madison S. Wigginton Professor of Marketing, Faculty Director, Master of Marketing (#10),
Jennifer Edson Escalas, Associate Dean of Academic Program, Dean Samuel B. and Evelyn R. Richmond Chair, Professor of Marketing (#23).
Professor Iacobucci also received the rare distinction of a Highly Ranked Scholar in this analysis, a title reserved for the most influential and prolific researchers in their field.
Vanderbilt Business faculty ranks #14 all-time in Negotiation research
Vanderbilt ranked #14 all-time in Negotiation research, according to ScholarGPS’ 2024 research analytics.
Professor Friedman placed #35 for research in this specialty in the Lifetime rankings.
Operations Management & Quantitative Methods, three INFORMS TIMES Papers of the Month
Three Vanderbilt Business faculty members from the Operations Management and Quantitative Methods area were recognized with an INFORMS TIMES Paper of the Month by INFORMS (The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) is a leading international association for analytics and operations research, and its TIMES (Technology, Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship Section) division highlights one outstanding research paper monthly.
Michael Lapré, Associate Professor of Operations Management, was recognized for the paper, “When Success is Rare and Competitive: Learning from Others’ Success and My Failure at the Speed of Formula One.”
Antoine Feylessoufi, Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Methods, was recognized for the paper, “Behavioral Microfoundations of New Practice Adoption: The Effects of Rewards, Training and Population Dynamics.”
Sina Moghadas Khorasani, Assistant Professor of Operations Management, was recognized for the paper, “Screening in Multistage Contests. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.”
New leadership roles
Professor White named PCAOB’s Acting Chief Economist and OERA Director
Joshua T. White, Assistant Professor of Finance, Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Dean’s Faculty Fellow, was appointed Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Acting Chief Economist and Director of its Office of Economic and Risk Analysis (OERA). White is on leave from Owen to engage in this public service, leading the PCAOB’s economic analysis and risk assessment efforts.
Professor Johnson elected as President of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)
M. Eric Johnson, Bruce D. Henderson Professor of Strategy, Ralph Owen Dean, Emeritus, was elected President of POMS, an international professional organization for business school faculty in operations and technology management, representing more than 2,400 members across 55 countries.
Ready to see what this academic year will bring?
Join us in welcoming the newest additions to Vanderbilt Business!
