Celebrating 2008 Faculty and Staff Achievements
By Abby P. Metzger
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2008 faculty and staff award winners (from left): Carol Brown, Jim Coakley, Cheryl Hoflich, Erik Larson, Nikki Brown, David Baldridge, Tom Dowling, Mark Van Patten, and Jimmy Yang. Julie Elston and Don Neubaum were not present. Photo by Ryan Gardner |
At the close of every year, the College of Business takes a break from workday rigors and celebrates the achievements of faculty and staff with an awards dinner. The gathering is a chance to exhale before beginning a new year and give a pat on the back to college employees. This year, the awards dinner expanded to include recognition of college-wide achievements in addition to individual achievements.
The event, which was held June 6 at Salbasgeon Suites, recognized the accomplishments of faculty and staff, students, programs, alumni, and research projects. Fittingly, the college renamed the event the College of Business Celebration of Achievement.
Like previous ceremonies, the college acknowledged 11 faculty and staff with specific awards for their teaching, scholarship, and service during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Management faculty member Tom Dowling received the Betty and Forrest Simmons Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, an honor established this year by a generous gift from Betty and Forrest Simmons. Dowling tirelessly mentored MBA students, and his commitment to the program has markedly improved the annual business project competition.
The Byron L. Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching went to Don Neubaum, assistant professor in management. Neubaum was honored for his classroom teaching skills, presentation of a challenging curriculum, and consistently high evaluation scores.
The Excellence in Scholarship Award went to Julie Elston, assistant professor in international business at the OSU-Cascades campus. Elston received a significant grant of nearly $35,000 from the Kauffman Foundation and has published several scholarly papers.
Jimmy Yang, assistant professor in finance, received the Outstanding Faculty Service Award. Yang was heralded for his involvement in the Investment Group and the Finance Club. Yang was also instrumental in organizing an Investment Group trip to the New York Stock Exchange.
Mark Van Patten and Cheryl Hoflich won the Outstanding Professional Faculty and Staff Award. Van Patten, director of the Business Solutions Group, received the accolade because of his stellar leadership in developing a self-supporting unit and teaching and training a student workforce. Hoflich, the administrative assistant for academic programs, was recognized for efficiently managing the paper flow for faculty promotion and tenure, and securing permission for international hires to work in the United States.
Erik Larson, professor in management, received the Gazette-Times Faculty Leadership Award. Because of his leadership during his project management courses, a dozen student teams hosted fundraisers and donated approximately $14,000 to different charities, including the American Cancer Society and the Children's Miracle Network.
Four other faculty and staff received Newcomb Fellowships. The Newcomb Fellowships were established by Bernie Newcomb ('65), co-founder of E*Trade. "His generous endowment makes it possible for us to recognize outstanding contributions to the mission, vision, and strategic development of the College of Business," said Kleinsorge.
The first Newcomb award went to David Baldridge, assistant professor in management, for his scholarly publications in front-running journals and his exceptional classroom management skills. Carol Brown, associate professor in accounting, won a Newcomb for spearheading curriculum changes and working behind the scenes to enhance diversity at the College of Business. Nikki Brown, director of the Close to the Customer Project, took home a Newcomb for her competence as a marketing mentor and her excellent team-playing skills. The final Newcomb went to Jim Coakley, associate dean for academic programs. Coakley was commended for revamping curriculum and providing critical leadership in recruitment efforts, scholarship funds, and internships.
In addition to announcing the 11 individual awards, Dean Ilene Kleinsorge praised College of Business research, students, and programs.
Faculty published at least 30 peer-reviewed articles, and several faculty were recipients of fellowships or endowments. Byron Marshall, assistant professor of information management, was honored as a KPMG Fellow for his role in securing the Information Systems Audit and Control Association certification for the accounting and management information systems curriculum, making the college one of only six higher learning institutions in the country and one of only 13 in the world to receive this recognition.
During this past year, faculty members Clay Dibrell, Nancy King, and Julie Elston were named Fulbright scholars. The distinction recognizes their research in entrepreneurial start-up ventures, mobile commerce privacy, and the impact of science on policies, respectively.
"Our faculty excelled individually as well as collaboratively across disciplines," said Kleinsorge. "And they worked diligently to uphold our mission of graduating top-notch business students, well-versed in business technology, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and the global economy."
Likewise, College of Business students made strides during the 2007-2008 school year. "Our students responded decisively to scholastic challenges and proved to be flexible, knowledge-driven learners. They won awards, scored high on exams, and self-organized in student clubs to further experiential learning opportunities," said Kleinsorge. Four students won first prize in the 2008 Berntson Porter/University of Washington Master of Professional Accounting Tax Competition in Seattle earlier in the school year. Two other College of Business students took fourth place at the 2007 Eller Ethics Case Competition at the University of Arizona, which aims to promote academic integrity and ethical character development. Finally, the Oregon State Investment Group successfully organized a trip to the New York Stock Exchange.
College of Business programs also made headway. The Close to the Customer project mentored 30 students and provided marketing services to clients such as Gerber and the OSU Federal Credit Union. The Business Solutions Group undertook two new projects that will increase citizen transparency and participation in how tax dollars are spent.
Both the Austin Entrepreneurship Program and the Austin Family Business Program hosted new events that increased the visibility of the college and engaged the campus community. The Austin Entrepreneurship Program launched the New Enterprise Challenge-one of the college's efforts to be a catalyst and energizer for commercializing OSU innovations. The Austin Family Business Program organized the Student-to-Student Conference. In this networking event, students got advice from keynote speaker Pat Reser (education '60), as well as from senior and next-generation panelists.
During the celebration, Kleinsorge stressed the importance of collaboration and noted the collective achievements of the College of Business.
"Individual contributions are powerful in their own right, but in concert they can move mountains," she said. "And that's why we're here tonight-to show the impact our alumni, staff and faculty, students, programs, research, and outreach efforts create across the university, the state, the nation, and the world."
Kleinsorge also pointed out that everyone in the college played an important role in furthering its mission and values. "We have all stretched our limits, and we have all worked hard to build a foundation of excellence while traversing new ground," she said. "Congratulations to every single one of you." | 
