UIC Business Celebrates 2026 College of Business Administration (CBA) Faculty Award Winners
Introduction
Great business schools are built by great faculty—and we are proud to celebrate the people who make UIC Business exceptional.
At the UIC Business Fall 2026 Faculty Meeting, we presented the 2026 CBA Excellence Awards, recognizing outstanding contributions across teaching, service, and research. This year, we also introduced the CBA Faculty of the Year Award to recognize exceptional contributions across multiple areas of the college’s mission.
Congratulations to all of the award recipients!
CBA Faculty of the Year
Brad Sturt, Information and Decision Sciences — Recognized for excellence across multiple areas of the college’s mission. Brad was nominated in two award categories, and his exceptional contributions led the committee to create this special recognition.
Teaching Excellence Awards
Michael McLaughlin, Accounting — For exceptional and innovative teaching that combines classroom excellence with accessible education reaching hundreds of thousands of learners around the world.
Kim Moon, Marketing — For creating experiential learning opportunities that connect students with real organizations and business challenges while expanding their global perspective and professional skills.
Dermot Murphy, Finance — For teaching that combines academic rigor, hands-on learning, real-world financial applications, and industry engagement to prepare students for careers in finance.
Research Excellence Awards
Negar Soheili, Information and Decision Sciences — For innovative research in optimization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning with applications to large-scale, real-world problems.
Mary Vernon, Accounting — For an extraordinary record of research in taxation, including publications in leading accounting journals and scholarship recognized internationally.
Luis Lopez, Real Estate — For impactful research examining important societal issues including discrimination, public policy, pollution, and housing.
Jun Chen, Finance — For an exceptional research record addressing important questions in entrepreneurial finance, labor, and public policy.
Manuel Hermosilla, Marketing — For research examining how markets, firms, regulation, and consumers shape healthcare outcomes, with significant academic and public-policy relevance.
Bob Liden, Managerial Studies — For an extraordinary record of research productivity and scholarly impact in the field of leadership.
Service Excellence Awards
Joan Farre-Mensa, Finance — For leadership that has strengthened the Finance Department, expanded opportunities for students, deepened business community connections, and elevated UIC’s visibility in finance.
Selva Nadarajah, Information and Decision Sciences — For visionary service advancing the college’s leadership in artificial intelligence, sustainability, and analytics while building impactful programs and partnerships.
Shahnaz Ibrahim, Managerial Studies — For extraordinary service across the department, college, university, and profession, with a strong commitment to student engagement, experiential learning, and mentorship.
Sajna Razi, Marketing — For service that brings together technology and AI, industry engagement, curriculum innovation, and student professional development to strengthen the Marketing Department and college.