“This event is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of all of you, our dedicated faculty and staff. It is your collective passion that keeps Kellogg at the very top of the rankings.”

Oh Be Joyful began more than a decade ago when Dean Donald Jacobs decided that Kellogg would benefit from an event that brought together the entire Kellogg community to take stock of their efforts over the previous year.

“The original motivation behind Oh Be Joyful wasn’t to do anything other than celebrate the joy of our work and the intellectual and social significance of the accomplishments of the faculty and staff,” recalled Jacobs. The event was patterned after a similar tradition at Unilever Corp., he said.

Over time, the program grew more structured, although the celebration still retains its amiable air. Today, Oh Be Joyful provides an opportunity to share faculty and staff promotions, mark service milestones, honor professors for their teaching and research, and acknowledge outstanding staff members for their dedication to Kellogg, said Robert Magee, associate dean of academic affairs (faculty and research).

Among the many recognitions announced at this year’s celebration was the winner of the inaugural Stanley Reiter Best Paper Award. “Convicting the Innocent: The Inferiority of Unanimous Jury Verdicts Under Strategic Voting” was written by Timothy Feddersen, the Wendell Hobbs Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences (co-authored by Wolfgang Pesendorfer) and appeared in the American Political Science Review (vol. 92, no. 1). The Reiter Award is presented each year for the article judged to be best from among those published by Kellogg School faculty in the preceding four calendar years.

Other announcements on the faculty side recognized the Chairs’ Core Course Teaching Awards, the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Awards, the Lawrence G. Lavengood Professor of the Year, and the EMP and Alumni Reunion Outstanding Professor of the Year Awards.

Karl Schmedders received the Lavengood award and Dean Jain was recognized as the Alumni Reunion Professor of the Year. Dawn Iacobucci and Joel Shalowitz were honored for 15 years of service, while Edward Hughes and Robert Neuschel were honored for their 25 years of service, and Mark Satterthwaite and Brian Sternthal for their 30 years of service.

“We are extremely proud of our faculty’s exceptional and frequently path breaking research,” said David Besanko, associate dean of academic affairs (curriculum and teaching). “Their work demonstrates both rigor and relevance. We are also proud of the outstanding job our faculty are doing inside the classroom. By all available measures of student satisfaction, teaching at Kellogg is as strong as it has ever been.”

Staff recognitions included service milestones such as Associate Dean Vennie Lyons and Associate Dean Edmund Wilson’s 30 years at Kellogg. Lolotte Olkowski was noted for her 15 years at the school, while Mariellen Gibson received Staff Service Recognition.
— MG