Celebrating Excellence in the School of Business

The School of Business held their second annual Celebration of Excellence on April 16th to recognize the students, faculty, and staff of the School of Business for their outstanding achievements. The ceremony recognized Beta Gamma Sigma inductees and honorees, Dean’s Scholars, Outstanding Students by Discipline, Special Scholarship Award Winners, Faculty and Staff Excellence Award Winners, and the recipients of the University Distinguished Achievement Awards for Teaching and for Service.

Dean’s Scholar Award recipients are current business students who have achieved a 3.5 GPA or better for three consecutive terms while taking at least six credits each term, do not have a grade lower than a C, and have earned at least 45 credits at Robert Morris University. There were 263 students recognized for this award.

Beta Gamma Sigma held their induction ceremony in conjunction with the Celebration of Excellence on April 16th. Beta Gamma Sigma is the top honorary society for AACSB Schools of Business. Only students who are in the top 10% of their class are eligible for induction into this prestigious society. It is the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive from a business program that is AACSB accredited. Forty-six top undergraduate and graduate students were inducted along with ten faculty inductees. Two chapter honorees, and RMU Board of Trustees Members, were also inducted into the RMU chapter. Richard J. Harshman, Chairman, President, and CEO of Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, and David J. Malone, President and CEO of Gateway Financial.

The School of Business also recognized an outstanding student from each discipline. These students have invested extensive amounts of time and energy into their academic careers at RMU.

Outstanding Student Awards by Discipline

Outstanding Accounting Student Award: Kyle R. Neff

Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Senior Award: Nicole T. Hamilton

Outstanding Economics Student Award: Tara Dillan

Outstanding Finance Student Award: Andrew R. Wisneski

Outstanding Hospitality and Tourism Management Student Award: Ashley Wagner

Outstanding Hospitality and Tourism Management Association Service Award: Anna Markovich

Outstanding Human Resource Management Student Award: Julie L. Elkin

Outstanding McGraw-Hill/Irwin Management Student Award: Laura M. Maffeo

Outstanding Marketing Student Award: Alexis Jones

Outstanding Sport Management Student Award: Camille Partis

Each year the university honors a student from every discipline of each of our five schools with the Presidential Undergraduate Achievement Awards. The School of Business award winners include the following students:

Presidential Undergraduate Achievement Awards

Accounting: Steven J. Tracy

Economics: Vanessa Petrasko

Finance: Joshua Wakefield

Hospitality and Tourism Management: Shanon Retzer

Management: Laura Maffeo

Marketing: Alexis Jones

Sport Management: Shelby Lander

The School of Business would not be what it is without our faculty and staff. Several faculty members were recognized at the Celebration of Excellence for all of their hard work commitment to the School of Business and its students.

Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards

University-Wide Faculty Excellence Award Recipient: Artemisia Apostolopoulou

Academic Publication Award: Zhou Yang

Professional Publication Award: Lou Swartz and Michele Cole

Service Excellence Award: Mike Yahr

Teaching Excellence Award: Dave Hess

Excellence in Teaching Innovation Award: Jacob Peng

Staff Excellence Award: Anne Stokes

We are so grateful for all our students, faculty, and staff and all of the hard work and time they invest in the School of Business.