Faculty

Robert Freund won the Samuel M. Seegal Faculty Prize, which was established by Paula Seegal-Thompson for her father, a member of the class of 1922. The Seegal Prize is shared with the MIT School of Engineering and is awarded every other year to a professor “who inspires students in pursuing and achieving excellence.”  The Seegal faculty prize is selected by a review committee at MIT.

Y. Karen Zheng and Retsef Levi have won the 2020 MSOM  Responsible Research in Operations Management award for the paper “The Impact of Unifying Agriculture Wholesale Markets on Prices and Farmers' Profitability,” coauthored with Manoj Rajan and Somya Singhvi. MSOM, which stands for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, presents this award in order to encourage studies that may “make the world a better place,” through “evidence-based” practices. 

Retsef Levi and Y. Karen Zheng have won the 2020 MSOM Responsible Research in Operations Management award for the paper, “The Impact of Unifying Agriculture Wholesale Markets on Prices and Farmers' Profitability,” coauthored with Manoj Rajan and Somya Singhvi. MSOM, which stands for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, presents this award in order to encourage studies that may “make the world a better place,” through “evidence-based” practices. 

S.P. Kothari is the recipient of a 2020 Padma Shri Award, one of the highest civilian honors offered by the Government of India for distinguished service in any field. Kothari’s Padma Shri Award (the fourth-highest civilian award in the country) is in the field of “Literature and Education,” and the citation notes “his valuable contribution in the fields of finance and academia.” Kothari is currently on leave from MIT Sloan, serving since March of last year as Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Christine Kelly, senior lecturer, is one of several faculty members at MIT Sloan who have won the 2019 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from The Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program. The other MIT Sloan winners are Barbara Dyer, Leigh Hafrey, and Thomas Kochan. This award recognizes 10 exceptional courses, and honors faculty who are redefining business education, providing learning experiences that equip managers of tomorrow with the context, skills, and decision-making capabilities needed to lead in an increasingly complex business environment and world. The award celebrates innovative teaching that challenges conventional thinking and tests new approaches to divisive issues, rethinking the path forward for business and society and preparing students to make business decisions that create both financial and social value.

The winning course, 15.S02 “Bridging the American Divides: Work Community and Culture —USA Lab,” is MIT Sloan’s U.S.-focused Action Learning Lab, developed by the Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at MIT Sloan in partnership with the MIT Mens et Manus America Initiative and MIT Sloan Action Learning.

Leigh Hafrey, senior lecturer, is one of several faculty members at MIT Sloan who have won the 2019 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from The Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program. The other MIT Sloan winners are Barbara Dyer, Christine Kelly, and Thomas Kochan. This award recognizes 10 exceptional courses, and honors faculty who are redefining business education, providing learning experiences that equip managers of tomorrow with the context, skills, and decision-making capabilities needed to lead in an increasingly complex business environment and world. The award celebrates innovative teaching that challenges conventional thinking and tests new approaches to divisive issues, rethinking the path forward for business and society and preparing students to make business decisions that create both financial and social value.

The winning course, 15.S02 “Bridging the American Divides: Work Community and Culture —USA Lab,” is MIT Sloan’s U.S.-focused Action Learning Lab, developed by the Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at MIT Sloan in partnership with the MIT Mens et Manus America Initiative and MIT Sloan Action Learning.

The University of Geneva is recognizing Henry “Jake” Jacoby with an honorary doctorate. He was proposed by the University’s School of Economics and Management, to honor his contributions in the area of climate change and in thanks for his strong ties with the School’s project in this area, related to the integration of natural and social sciences in policy analysis of the climate threat. The degree will be conferred in the fall of 2019.

Christopher Palmer was honored with the Best Paper in Corporate Finance Award in 2019. 
The award, given by the Society of Financial Studies, was for the paper, “The Capitalization of Consumer Financing into Durable Goods Prices.” Palmer's paper co-author's were
Bronson Argyle, Taylor Nadauld, and Ryan Pratt.

Juanjuan Zhang has won the 2019 INFORMS (The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Society for Marketing Science Long Term Impact Award. This honor is given annually to a Marketing Science, Management Science, or another INFORMS journal publication that is viewed to have made a significant long-run impact on the field of marketing. Zhang’s recognized paper is entitled, “The Sound of Silence: Observational Learning in the U.S. Kidney Market” (Marketing Science (2010) 29(2):315-335).

Jackson Lu has won the 2019 Alvah H. Chapman Jr. Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Center for Leadership at Florida International University, in partnership with the Network of Leadership Scholars. This award recognizes a dissertation’s outstanding contribution to the field of leadership. As the award recipient, Lu will deliver an invited presentation at the Leadership Research Colloquium at the FIU Center for Leadership in 2020. Lu’s winning dissertation is entitled “Global Leader or Cultural Outsider? The Divergent Effects of International Experiences on Leadership Effectiveness vs. Leadership Selection” (abstract since currently under embargo until April – additional information about his dissertation is included in this article).