Kingston Business School lecturer makes prestigious Poets and Quants for Undergrads Top 50 Undergraduate Business School Professors list

Posted Friday 16 December 2022

A Kingston Business School academic been named among the 50 best undergraduate business school professors of the year by leading American sector publication Poets and Quants for Undergrads.

Dr Sarah Otner, a senior lecturer in organisational behaviour and expert on social status and prizes, was one of 50 academics to make the annual list from more than 500 international nominations.

The editorial team at Poets and Quants – an online United States publication that specialises in business education – evaluated the nominations and selected the Kingston University behavioural scientist in recognition of her leading research and teaching.

Thirty per cent weighting was allocated to research, which considered the volume of a professor's Google Scholar citations, how much media attention they received, along with research and writing awards. For teaching, which made up 70 per cent of the marks, the judges considered the nomination, teaching awards and impact on their schools and departments.

In a citation within Dr Otner's nomination, former Kingston Business School student Mark Devlin said she had made his cohort feel very comfortable from the first class. "Straight away, I was engaged in Sarah's learning atmosphere, which was focused on experimentation and play. She then combined theory and practical examples to create relevant applications," he said in his supporting statement.

An interview with each academic was published on individual profile pages on the Poets and Quants for Undergrads website as part of their celebration of the 2022 award winners. Within hers, Dr Otner explained how she discovered she wanted to be a business school professor after taking a summer taster programme at Harvard Business School. "I never wanted to leave. However, I knew I didn't want to be a student any longer, so I started investigating how else to stay in the classroom, as a teacher. I saw business academia as the perfect blend of scholarship and service – and I still think it is," she said.

On being announced among the top 50 list, Dr Otner spoke of her pride in being recognised for her research-informed teaching. "The incredible calibre of my fellow 2022 cohort demonstrates how tightly these domains are coupled. I look forward to many more opportunities to foster students' success," she said.

Head of Kingston Business School Ian Roberts said the award was a tremendous accolade both for Dr Otner and the School. "This award highlights the impact of excellence in research and teaching. We are delighted that Sarah has been recognised among a celebrated list of international business school professors who have gone the extra mile to deliver to their students and to their field of research."

Dr Otner has previously been recipient of the Early Career Research Award at Kingston University and was nominated by students at her previous institution, Imperial College London for an Innovation in Teaching, Teaching Excellence Award and by Kingston Business School students last academic year for The European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Read Dr Otner's profile on the Poets and Quants website.

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