How research can impact business

Olin Business School launches faculty contest

The Olin Business School is launching a competition to honor an Olin faculty member whose research has the greatest potential to advance business and management practice. The “Olin Award: Recognizing Research That Transforms Business” includes a $10,000 honorarium.

Faculty research submissions were solicited in August, and the submissions will be reviewed by 11 senior corporate executives, including Hugh Grant, president and CEO of the Monsanto Co.; Joseph McCue, former chair of Barclays US; James Weddle, managing partner at Edward Jones; James Quigley, CEO of Deloitte; and David Peacock, COO of Anheuser-Busch Cos.

The winner will be announced in February and formally recognized at Olin’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner this spring.

Richard J. Mahoney, an executive in residence at Olin and former chair and CEO of Monsanto, initiated the award.

“We have excellent researchers at Olin,” Mahoney said. “This award helps connect them and their work to the business community by showcasing research that is grounded in rigorous scholarly analysis, but also is at the nexus of real business issues. I have great hope the award will deliver on its promise.”

The Financial Times has recognized Olin for its professors’ prolific research, ranking the school No. 14 worldwide for research productivity. The award highlights the benefits of that activity to the business community, Mahoney said. It also reflects the Olin Business School’s mission to create knowledge and transform business.