27 Nov 2013

Six Doctoral Students Win Annual Research Awards

Accolades given for innovative dissertation research
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BOSTON—The Harvard Business School Doctoral Programs, directed by Kathleen McGinn, the School's Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration, have presented three Wyss Awards for Excellence in Doctoral Research and three Martin Awards for Excellence in Business Economics to five Harvard doctoral candidates. These prizes are presented annually to outstanding students engaged in innovative dissertation research.

The Wyss Awards are named in honor of Hansjoerg Wyss (MBA 1965), who in 2004 established the Hansjoerg Wyss Endowment for Doctoral Education. The Wyss Endowment supports a broad range of efforts to strengthen the HBS Doctoral Programs, including fellowships and stipends for doctoral students, increased support for field research, new doctoral course development, teaching skills training, and the renovation of doctoral facilities on campus.

The Roger Martin Fund for Doctoral Research was established in 2006 through the generosity of Roger Martin (MBA 1981), former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. The fund was created in memory of HBS professor John Lintner, a world-renowned expert in finance, who was a mentor to Martin.

The 2013 Wyss Award recipients are:

  • Nathan Craig (DBA candidate/ technology and operations management) – Craig applies management science and operations research techniques to the study of how to make retail chains and store liquidations more efficient. His work has provided tools and insights that have substantially improved the efficiency of asset liquidation in retailing.
  • Clarence Lee (DBA/marketing) – Lee’s dissertation focuses on consumer dynamics within the “freemium” (free + premium) business model, where the majority of consumers use the basic free version of a product, while a smaller percentage pays for the premium version.
  • Matthew Lee (DBA/management) – Lee studies the processes and strategies by which entrepreneurs and businesses influence society. His research focuses on two such phenomena: hybrid social ventures that innovate by combining aspects of business and charity, and corporate social responsibility.

The 2013 Martin Award recipients are:

  • Sam Kruger (PhD/business economics) – Kruger’s research addresses topics in corporate finance and asset pricing using empirical and applied theory methodologies. In his dissertation, he examines how mortgage securitization affects foreclosure, how information asymmetry affects investor behavior, and how investors react to interest rate shocks.
  • Heather Schofield (PhD/business economics) – Schofield’s research lies at the intersection of behavioral and health economics in both developing and emerging economies. Domestically, she is focusing on how to promote healthy behavior through financial incentives. She is also looking at how to improve our understanding of health-related factors while promoting productivity in low-income populations in India.
  • Eric Zwick (PhD/business economics) – Zwick applies modern corporate finance to long-standing issues in public finance, including the effect of depreciation deductions on the incentive to invest in depreciable assets, the recent housing bubble, and bank failures and the impact of regulatory intervention on local lending activity.

Harvard Business School grants the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in five areas of study: accounting and management, marketing, management, strategy, and technology and operations management. In addition, in conjunction with Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, it offers Ph.D. programs in business economics, health policy management, and organizational behavior. At any given time, approximately 130 HBS doctoral students are completing course work or working on their dissertations at the School.

Contacts

Cullen Schmitt
cschmitt+hbs.edu
617-495-6155

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.