West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics showed its appreciation for outstanding faculty and staff by recognizing them with awards at the Dean’s Awards of Distinction ceremony on Friday (April 17).

The purpose of the Dean’s Awards of Distinction is to recognize and encourage continued efforts of the individuals who excel in the areas of teaching, research and service. Now in its third year, B&E Milan Puskar Dean “Jose “Zito Sartarelli hosted the ceremony, noting that all nominees for the awards had shown excellent commitment to the College throughout the year, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“These awards are a way for us to recognize those who have helped take the college to a different level, and have gone above and beyond to do so,” Sartarelli said at the ceremony.

Karen Donovan, associate dean for Academic Affairs, said there are more nominations each year for the Dean’s Awards, and the competition gets more difficult as the years go by.

“There was a lot of competition this year for the awards; all of the nominees were very qualified, which is a testament to how dedicated our faculty and staff are to the college and to the students,” Donovan said. “The winners of the awards were very deserving and I’m proud to be a colleague.”

Sartarelli presented awards to faculty for their efforts in the areas of research, teaching (adjunct and full-time) and service, and to staff for outreach and service.

Ednilson Bernardes, associate professor of supply chain management, received the Award of Distinction in Research.

The Award of Distinction in Outreach went to Jennifer Bellucci, director of the Center for Career Development.

“I am so pleased to give this to Jennifer because she’s done such a phenomenal job as the director of the CDC and many of our students have gained so much from her leadership,” Donovan said at the ceremony.

Jena Martin, adjunct professor and executive MBA and JD/EMBA program coordinator, received the Award of Distinction in Teaching (adjunct). Martin is also a professor at the WVU College of Law. The Award of Distinction in Teaching (full-time) went to Joshua Hall, associate professor of economics.

Naomi Boyd received the Award of Distinction in Service-Faculty. Carol Kiger, manager of instructional technology and information technology, received the Award of Distinction in Service-Staff. Kiger was also the recipient of the University-wide Point Of Contact Award earlier this spring for her eCampus support to the college.

An award for Special Recognition was given to Rick Dull and Dick Riley for their creation of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in FAFE (Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination) that currently has more than 21,000 online students enrolled.

Dean Sartarelli also recognized Dean’s Scholars, B&E faculty members who achieved A+ publications accepted in the last year. Dean’s Scholars included Ednilson Bernardes (supply chain management), Jim Brown and Jody Crosno marketing), Annie Peng Cui and Michael Walsh (marketing), Richard Dull and Virginia Kleist (management information systems), Usha Haley (management), Kip Holderness (accounting), Richard Riley (accounting) and John Saldanha (supply chain management). In addition, summer research grants were given to John Saldanha and Jodi Goodman (management).

The event saw the presentation of Years of Service Certificates for significant terms of service to WVU and B&E. Certificates were presented to Susan Lantz, assistant professor and director of the Business Learning Resource Center, 20 years; Gerald Blakely, associate professor of management, 25 years; Victor Chow, professor of finance, 25 years; Michelle Paugh, business office manager, 25 years; Susan Maczko, senior project coordinator, 25 years; Erin Carter, program specialist, 30 years; Terry Rose, associate professor of finance, 30 years; and Vickie Trickett, events manager, 30 years.

“This ceremony is terrific every year, and we’re happy to recognize the well-deserving people who work hard to make progress at the college every day,” Sartarelli said.

To learn more about the College of Business and Economics, visit http://be.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

mm/04/17/15

CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131; patrick.gregg@mail.wvu.edu
Follow @WVUToday and the WVU College of Business and Economics at @wvucobe on Twitter.