An outstanding research record, some of the most diverse and inclusive course content around, and expert stewardship as faculty search chair—those were a few bullets on the impressive resume of the Stewart Award winner for 2023.
The Stewart Distinguished Faculty Award is the college’s top academic honor and is awarded annually to a faculty member in December. Tom Stewart, an alumnus of the college and past member of the college’s Board of Advisors as well as the UO Foundation’s trustees, created and supports the award to recognize and celebrate faculty accomplishments that lead to distinction at a world-class level and further the strategic objectives of the Lundquist College of Business and the University of Oregon.
Among a particularly strong set of candidates for this year’s award, it was the contributions of Peter Younkin, associate professor of management and Inman Research Scholar at the Lundquist College of Business, that wowed the selection committee.
In his nomination letter, David Wagner, head of the Department of Management, described how Younkin produces work of the highest quality.
“His writing is thoughtful and his research examines important phenomena,” said Wagner. “Younkin studies entrepreneurship—a critical driver of economic development—but more particularly entrepreneurial activity by and funding of entrepreneurs from traditionally underrepresented groups. Over the last three years, he has published or had accepted six papers in elite management journals Organization Science and Management Science.”
Also cited were Younkin’s efforts to helm an exceptionally fair and inclusive faculty search committee, as well as his inclusive approach to classroom case-study materials.
Younkin joined the Lundquist College in 2018 and earned the University of Oregon’s New Faculty Junior Research Award that same year. 2020 brought a Lazardis Award for Best Paper Published in the Journal of Business Venturing, as well as the Bradford-Osborne Award for Best Paper on Minority Entrepreneurship. In 2021, his was named Best Paper on Environmental & Social Practices by the Academy of Management (Organization and Management Theory Division); he was given the UO’s Goulet Senior Faculty Research Award; and he earned tenure at the college.
What’s next for Younkin? Potentially more awards and honors are on the horizon, if his latest paper titles are any indication: “Do Employees Work Less for Female Leaders? A Multi-Method Study of Entrepreneurial Firms” and “Collateral Damage: Salient Events and Financial Support for Minority Founders.” Both are forthcoming in Organization Science.
—AnneMarie Knepper-Sjoblom ’05, Lundquist College Communications