News Releases

School of Business Ph.D. students praise faculty mentors at ABDS Luncheon

Monday, May 4, 2009

By Feloniz Lovato-Winston

At the 2009 School of Business Ph.D. Mentor Luncheon, planned by the Association of Business Doctoral Students (ABDS) Ph.D. students testified to the exceptional support they have received while pursuing their advanced degrees. Many mentioned the close relationships they formed with their faculty mentors, and how these partnerships helped them succeed academically and find placement at top universities. The doctoral program at the KU School of Business is intimate, with about 35 students. These small numbers facilitate close relationships between faculty and students, supplying doctoral students with the support they need to thrive in the academic world.

Exceptional faculty mentors were recognized at the luncheon by Ph.D. students Qian Wang and Yong Yeon-Ji. Wang talked of the support she received from the faculty at the School. She said they were always available to answer her questions and assist her in her job search. She noted that professor and Chair of the Ph.D. program, Michael Ettredge, devoted a lot of time and energy to guiding her in her accounting research, and that Accounting and Information Sytems professor Jim Heintz's "positive attitude, fairness and support," showed her "what a true mentor is."

Ji spoke of Management Director Ron Ash and professors Jim Guthrie, Prakash Shenoy and Vince Barker, who motivated him and restored his confidence during his years as a Ph.D. student.

Professors Prakash Shenoy and George Marakas received the Mentors of the Year ABDS Award, with Yong-Yeon Ji thanking professor Shenoy for his challenging classes, and Marakas being lauded as a "generous and patient" mentor.

The small, selective program at the School has helped many Ph.D. students find positions at top universities while also giving them the support they need to publish papers in prestigious academic journals and travel nationally and internationally to present at conferences. Jake Messersmith, former KU School of Business Ph.D. student and Assistant Professor at George Washington University, says that his experience at KU "prepared him for the rigors of academic life." Messersmith also said that the KU School of Business holds its own when compared to other Ph.D. programs. "As I've Ôcompared notes' with colleagues from other institutions, I've come to realize that the depth and quality of the training that I received in both my content area, and in methodology, were as rigorous as any other program in the country. I left the program feeling like I had a strong foundation to be successful in both research and teaching at the highest levels." Messersmith received his Ph.D. from the School in 2008.

Exceptional students were also recognized at the luncheon and awards were distributed as follows:

Ze Wang (Beijing, China):
Received the Holmes Teaching Excellence Award
Received the John O. Tollefson Doctoral Student Teaching Award

Qian Wang (Wuhan, Hubei China):
Received the Max E. Fessler Dissertation Award

Matt Luth (Kansas City, MO):
Received the John O. Tollefson Doctoral Student Teaching Award

Shane Moser (Olathe, KS):
Received the Constance B. Ducey Doctoral Student Teaching Award
Received the School of Business Dissertation Fellowship

Alex Martynov (Perm, Russia):
Received the John O. Tollefson Best Paper Award

Ying Huang (Wuhan, Hubei China):
Received the School of Business Dissertation Fellowship

Sunita Rao (New Delhi, India):
Received the School of Business Dissertation Fellowship

Sunita Rao, winner of the School of Business Dissertation Fellowship, attributes much of her success as a student to her experience at KU, noting that "The Ph.D. program in the School of Business has developed tremendous confidence in me. I...