Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching Awarded to Rotman Faculty
Toronto, January 14, 2010 –Three faculty members at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management have been named the recipients of the 2009 Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Research and Teaching. The purpose of the awards is to annually recognize and encourage excellence in the research and teaching activities of Rotman faculty members.
Ajay Agrawal, an associate professor of strategic management and Peter Munk Professor of Entrepreneurship is the recipient of the award for teaching. Sharing the award for research are April Franco, an assistant professor of business economics and strategic management, and Chenbo Zhong, an assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resource management.
Prof. Agrawal is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute’s Program on Innovation and Creative Industries at the Rotman School. He received his Ph.D from the University of British Columbia. His research explores the commercialization of university inventions, knowledge flow patterns, and technology clusters. Prof. Agrawal is well-known for his popular MBA course, Competition and Strategy in Creative Industries, which combines applied economic theory with guest speakers from the creative industries including Toronto theatre leader David Mirvish, Toronto Film Festival CEO Piers Handling, Canadian super-agent Michael Levine, Toronto Symphony CEO Andrew Shaw, and Rotman graduate John Cassaday, President and CEO of Corus Entertainment.
Prof. Franco received her M.A and Ph.D from the University of Rochester. Prof. Franco’s research is focused on the development of knowledge within an organization, as well as the flows across organizations. Her research has been published in the Journal of Economic Theory, Management Science, American Economic Review and Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, among others, has been recognized for numerous conference accolades including Honorable Mention, SMS Best Conference Paper Prize, nominated for SMS Best Conference Paper for Practical Implications Paper 2009 and received Best Paper Award, 2005, AMJ. Her research with Rotman Prof. Matt Mitchell on non-compete clauses has been mentioned in the Boston Globe as well as several blogs and other online articles.
Prof. Zhong’s research interests are in the area of ethical decision making, moral psychology, power, unconscious processes and social identity. He received his Ph.D from Northwestern University in 2008, and also holds an M.A from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Prof. Zhong’s research has been published in a variety of outlets, including Science, Psychological Science, Journal for Business Ethics and Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and has received coverage in many mainstream publications such as The New York Times, TIME, and The Globe & Mail.
In addition, 105 instructors were honoured with Rotman Excellence in Teaching Awards for the 2008-2009 academic year. This Award is based on students’ evaluations of instructors’ performance in the Rotman School’s MBA, Master of Finance, Executive MBA, OMNIUM Global Executive MBA and Rotman Commerce programs. Students ranked instructors on a scale of 1 through 7. The criteria to receive this Award is to be rated 6.0 or higher.
The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is redesigning business education for the 21st century with a curriculum based on Integrative Thinking. Located in the world’s most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions. The School is currently raising $200 million to ensure Canada has the world-class business school it deserves. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca. Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
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E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca