The historic commitment from the National Association of State Procurement Officials establishes the NASPO Department of Supply Chain Management at the W. P. Carey School of Business, advancing artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and ethical leadership in procurement and supply chain education.

W. P. Carey honors trailblazers shaping industries from home services and commercial airlines to health care, global finance, banking, and education.

The school’s 2025 inductees include:

• Sissie Roberts Shank (BS Finance ’87) – CEO and president, Chas Roberts Air Conditioning
• Michael Leskinen (BS Finance ’00) – Executive vice president and chief financial officer, United Airlines
• Robert Milligan (BS Finance/Economics ’03) – Founder and CEO, UDLR Healthcare
• Xinjun Liang (DBA ’15) – Chairman and CEO, Xin Family Pte. Ltd.
• Young Alumni inductee: Heather Bronson (BS Finance ’08) Senior vice president and director of commercial loan fulfillment, Comerica Bank

Morton Fleischer, founder of the Fleischer Scholars Foundation, was also awarded the 2025 Bill Carey Award.

In recognition of his impact on health care delivery and community health, W. P. Carey presented Todd LaPorte with its 2026 Executive of the Year Award.

W. P. Carey School of Business recognizes Jan Hatzius with the 2025 Lawrence R. Klein Award for accuracy in U.S. economic predictions.

Alumni-founded BioLab Holdings invests in the creation of state-of-the-art learning opportunities at W. P. Carey, including new scholarships and professional development travel, and establishes the BioLab Sales and Innovation Lab.

Teaching, giving, and community impact took center stage at the event celebrating the distinguished achievements of faculty, alumni, and benefactors. Chris Neck, professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, was recognized with the Faculty Teaching Achievement Award. Jaime Leija and Bob Maguire received the Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of their accomplishments as medical entrepreneurs and their continued impact on ASU. Longtime benefactor Sharon Dupont McCord was honored as Philanthropist of the Year.

The new cooperative education program at W. P. Carey is helping students land high-paying jobs — and giving employers a better way to spot top talent — by offering real-world experience beyond a typical internship. The program allows undergraduate business students to step away from classes for six months and work full time for major employers such as financial reporting firm Equity Methods and medical device company Align Technology.

W. P. Carey professors Martin Mende and Maura Scott are internationally recognized marketing scholars who study relationships, trust, empathy, and technology. Their work examines how people interact with service robots across contexts such as health care, finance, and customer service. The questions are deeply psychological and rooted in attachment theory, trust, and vulnerability.

Across W. P. Carey, the AI Enhanced Teaching Initiative is driving thoughtful integration of tools such as NotebookLM, CreateAIBuilder, and HeyGen — expanding what’s possible in the classroom and redefining how students engage with their coursework.

The Professional Sales Program was named the 2026 Overall Team Champion at the National Collegiate Sales Competition — the nation’s premier collegiate sales competition that brings together 72 top programs. This achievement was driven by standout student performances, with their combined efforts securing a first-place overall team finish.

The W. P. Carey Dean’s Early-Career Research Award goes to tenure-track faculty who are in their first six years of research since earning their PhD and recognizes outstanding research early in their career.

• Travis Howell, Management and Entrepreneurship
• Rafael Escamilla, NASPO Department of Supply Chain Management

The W. P. Carey Dean’s Mid-Career Research Award recognizes faculty with between six and 15 years since earning their PhD and celebrates outstanding impact to their field.

• Monika Lisjak, Marketing
• Scott Emett, Accountancy

The W. P. Carey Dean’s Distinguished Career Research Award recognizes distinguished research significance and impact over the career of a tenured faculty member. The career research award celebrates those who have developed a topic or topics of research that have resulted in significant contributions to and recognition in a discipline.

• Michal Matejka, Accountancy

‘Entrepreneurial Approach to Learning’ Teaching Innovation Award — Reynold Byers (NASPO Department of Supply Chain Management), Jamille Lasanta (Agribusiness), Mark Manfredo (Agribusiness), and Ashok Mishra (Agribusiness)

‘Business is Personal’ Inclusive Teaching Award — Elise Riker (Marketing) and Maria Rykaczewski (Accountancy)

‘Rethinking Business Education’ Outstanding Online Teaching Award — Julie Nelsen (Marketing) and Xiaodan (Dani) Dong (Marketing)

Huizingh Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award — Mary Cowx (Accountancy) and Matt Sopha (Information Systems)

Huizingh Award for Undergraduate Service to Students — Debra Radway (Finance)

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award — Trevis Certo (Management and Entrepreneurship), Hongmin Li (NASPO Department of Supply Chain Management), and Galina Vershchagina (Economics)

The John W. Teets Outstanding Teaching Awards were established in 1999 by the Teets family to recognize and reward professors for excellence in teaching. These awards are especially impactful because they are both nominated and selected by students.

• Teets Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award: John Eaton (Marketing)
• Teets Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award: Doug Olsen (Marketing)
• Teets Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award: Xin Zhou (Marketing)