Lindner celebrates outstanding faculty, staff
Honors received from the college, university
The Carl H. Lindner College of Business recognized faculty and staff for garnering college- and university-level accolades and retirements on April 23 at Lindner Hall.
Dean Marianne Lewis, PhD, served as the event’s primary emcee.
“We are truly blessed with our community of world-class faculty and staff,” Lewis said. “Thanks to your tremendous dedication, innovation and collaboration, we continue to transform our college as we transform our students and impact business.”
Associate Professor-Educator of Accounting Whitney Westrich (left) with Dean Marianne Lewis after receiving the Michael L. Dean Excellence in Classroom Education and Learning Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Other members of Lindner’s Leadership Team took turns presenting awards, including:
- Nick Castro, JD, assistant dean, Office of Lindner Community Engagement
- Sherae Daniel, PhD, academic director of PhD programs and associate professor, department of operations, business analytics, and information systems (OBAIS)
- Andrew Harrison, PhD, associate dean, graduate programs, and associate professor of information systems
- Suzanne Masterson, PhD, senior associate dean, faculty, research and Lindner culture, and professor of management
- Jaime Windeler, PhD, associate dean, undergraduate programs and student experience, and associate professor of OBAIS
- Bradley Garrison, Accounting
- Aziza Lyons, Economics
- Edward L. Hudson, Finance
- Erica Zaretsky Neff, Management
- Gretchen W. Harnick, Marketing
- Zekeriya Yalcin Karatas, Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems
- Rashmi Adaval, Lindner Research Excellence Award
- Oriana Aragon, Excellence in Service to Research Award
- Kanix Wang, Lindner Research Excellence, Emerging Scholar Award
- Alberto Barchetti, Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award
- Zachery Ziqi Ma, Outstanding Student Research Award
- Dan Peat, Harold J. Grilliot Award for Exemplary Service to Undergraduate Student Organizations
- Whitney Westrich, Michael L. Dean Excellence in Classroom Education and Learning Undergraduate Teaching Award
- Jeffrey A. Shaffer, Michael L. Dean Excellence in Classroom Education and Learning Graduate Teaching Award
- Yanran Liu, Daniel J. Westerbeck Junior Faculty Graduate Teaching Award
- Ronald Meyers, Drew and Wendy Boyd Breakthrough in Innovative Teaching Excellence Award
- Roseann Hassey, Lindner Inclusive Leader Faculty Award
- Debashis Pal, Lindner Inclusive Leader Faculty Award
- Sharmeen Merchant, Outstanding Graduate Student Inclusive Leader of the Year
- Marilyn Kump, Phyllis Trosper Service Excellence Award
- Rebecca Williamson, Lindner Way Award
- Haley Fite, Lindner Inclusive Leader Staff Award
- Shari Coffey, Julie Menchen Distinguished Service Award
- Lauren Thomas, Lindner Staff Excellence in Teaching Award
- Brittany Wagner, Lindner Staff Excellence in Teaching Award
- Jaymee Smiddie, Innovation and Impact Award
- Career Services, Team Problem Solving Award
- Rashmi Adaval, Faculty-to-Faculty Mentoring Award
- Steven Jones, Faculty Excellence Award
- Nick Castro, 2025 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Staff
- Lauren Thomas, Staff Excellence Award
- William (Bill) Bressler, Project Manager, Center for Business Analytics
- Robert Higgins, Assistant Professor-Educator of Insurance and Risk Management; Director of Professional and Industry Engagement, Carl H. Lindner III Center for Insurance and Risk Management
- Elaine Hollensbe, Professor of Management
- James Kellaris, Professor of Marketing
- Delmer William (Bill) Nicholson, Assistant Professor-Educator of OBAIS
- Steve Slezak, Professor of Finance; Director, Johnson Investment Institute
- Ric Sweeney, Professor-Educator of Marketing
- Nick Williams, Associate Professor of Economics
- Sourushe Zandvakili, Professor of Economics
Left to right: Sharmeen Merchant (awardee), Elaine Hollensbe (retiree), Dan Peat (awardee), Ronald Meyers (awardee) and Erica Zaretsky Neff (awardee).
Lewis closed the proceedings with a thank you to all Lindner faculty and staff.
“I'm grateful to be surrounded daily by individuals who go the extra mile to ensure the success of our students and the college,” Lewis said. “Through our collective commitment, we will continue to thrive while elevating our students and our community.”
Featured image: Lindner Career Services was honored with the first-ever Team Problem Solving Award. Team members pictured with Dean Lewis (far left) are (from left) Weston Atchison, Gabrielle Kroger, Amanda Bock, Sharon Love, Michael Nuttle, Joyce Mueller, Azurdi Swehla, Dani Tellez, Andy Wellendorf and Helen Koons. Photos by Joseph Fuqua II.
Empowering future business problem solvers
At the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, we fuel professional growth through our distinctive combination of academic and hands-on experiences: our problem-solving mindset, cooperative education, flexible pathways, engaging community and vibrant, urban setting. Place, age or stage — students from a range of backgrounds become problem solvers at Lindner.
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