Celebrating Excellence: Honoring Rising Stars in Teaching and Research

Up-and-coming faculty receive ringing endorsements by way of the new Faculty Scholars initiative.

When Vijay Khatri became the Tandean Rustandy Endowed Dean of the Leeds School of Business, he was already well aware of the caliber of Leeds’ faculty. But as he began to learn more about the teaching innovations of the non-tenure track faculty and needle-moving research of the pre-tenured faculty members, it became clear what his first philanthropic initiative at Leeds would be. 

Last fall, he launched the Leeds Faculty Scholars campaign to celebrate and elevate the exceptional research and teaching by Leeds’ pre-tenured (and recently tenured) and non-tenure track faculty. At its core, the initiative is a commitment to invest in the development of these up-and-comers across all divisions, unlocking their power to positively affect the greatest number of student lives and produce more world-changing research. 

“We want to acknowledge the incredible talent we have here in our junior faculty members, who show great promise in their teaching and research. This is an impactful way to support their growth,” says Dean Khatri. He notes that not only does the award honor excellence, but it also helps recruit and retain top talent.

“The award has significantly empowered my students and me to break new ground in our research.”

David Dobolyi, Caruso Faculty Scholar, assistant professor in organizational leadership and information analytics

Each Faculty Scholar has received the prestigious distinction of a named position. With it comes support to an annual expense account to further their teaching, research and professional development. 

Jennifer Bone, an associate teaching faculty of business communication and now a Craig and Cynthia Smith Faculty Scholar, has already used a portion of her stipend.

“With the generous donation received from Craig and Cynthia Smith, I obtained a certificate in leadership and management from Harvard's Online Business Program...that I am certain will benefit my work at [Leeds]. Additionally, I will be presenting a paper on women and leadership at an international conference in Zurich, Switzerland this July,” she says. 

“Neither of these opportunities would have been possible without the stipend received from the Faculty Scholar award. I am beyond grateful.”

David Dobolyi, assistant professor in the division of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics, holds the Caruso Faculty Scholar. “Thanks to the generous support provided by this award, I was able to acquire a cutting-edge graphics card, which has allowed me to accelerate my research on generative AI....The award has significantly empowered my students and me to break new ground in our research.”

To date, 13 generous donors have stepped forward to bestow 21 faculty members with the award. Dean Khatri has also stepped up to personally fund two named faculty scholars.

Below are the 21 trailblazers who’ve been named Leeds Faculty Scholars:

Additionally this fall, recipients of the Peterson Faculty Scholars and Stone Family Faculty Scholars will be announced.

Get to know the world-class faculty at Leeds.