Standing ovations, congratulatory signs, and heartfelt sentiments marked three ceremonies honoring Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty members in the MBA, MSx, and PhD programs.
Nominated and selected by students, awardees are recognized partly for their academic expertise. But more than that, the distinguishing criteria are measures of impact.
As selection committee member Gabriel Andrade, MS ’26, said of the award: “It is about something rare. It is about an educator’s ability to change the way you think, to challenge assumptions you didn’t even know you were making, and to leave a mark on you that lasts well beyond the classroom.”
Here are this year’s awardees.
MBA Distinguished Teaching Awards
The 2026 Distinguished Teaching Awards were presented by the MBA Academic Committee to two faculty members: Joseph Piotroski, the Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, and Allison Kluger, a lecturer in management.
Piotroski was recognized for bringing his wit, rigor, and dedication to Financial Statement Analysis, a course he has been teaching for 27 years.
“Accounting in lesser hands is a set of dry rules, but in Professor Piotroski’s hands, it becomes detective work,” said Saksham Gupta, MBA ’26. “He taught us to look for the financial fingerprints that strategy, culture, and management decisions leave across a balance sheet to ask not just what the statements say, but what they do not. Every case he studied felt like a live investigation, not a textbook exercise.”
Students demonstrated their enthusiasm for their teachers in the award ceremonies. | SF Photo
Gupta read comments from other students, who wrote that Piotroski “makes dry financial lecturers engaging and exciting” and “his class is fundamental … [it] blends the art and science of understanding business.”
Students also spoke warmly of Kluger’s communications elective courses, including Strategic Communication and Reputation Management, praising her commitment to her students and her own examples of leadership as a professional outside Stanford GSB.
“Everyone, I mean everybody, that I spoke to mentioned, without being prompted, the extraordinary effort that you put into each of their success,” said Sonal Chopra, MBA ’26, in her remarks to Kluger. “You have shown us what excellence really looks like, not just as a teacher, but as a human being.”
MSx Excellence in Teaching Award
MSx students presented Francis “Frank” Flynn, the Paul E. Holden Professor of Organizational Behavior, with this year’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
“In a world where leadership is often discussed in terms of strategy and frameworks, he showed us what it looks like in practice. It starts with making every person in the room feel seen,” said Andrade, before addressing Flynn directly. “You didn’t just teach us organizational behavior, you taught us to question our certainties, to lead with empathy, and to never stop asking what we might be missing.”
Students with Francis “Frank” Flynn, who received this year’s Excellence in Teaching Award. | SF Photo
“The big thing that I took away personally is your approach to your craft,” said Srini Saravanamuthu, MS ’26, describing small-group lunches, hands-on activities, and differentiated learning in Organizational Behavior. “You just put so much effort into it.”
Flynn’s attentiveness to teaching methods was echoed by Shobhika Mathur, MS ’26, who recalled her first day in his class. “What I did not realize that day was that I was walking into what would be the most thoughtfully designed student experience that I’m ever going to have in my life. … Every class was a masterstroke.”
PhD Distinguished Faculty Service Award
The PhD Student Association presented this year’s PhD Faculty Distinguished Service Award to Ali Yurukoglu, the Jonathan B. Lovelace Professor of Economics, who for many years acted as the PhD student-faculty liaison for the economics group.
“I want to share a few words that were used in descriptions of Ali as a mentor and as a teacher, which I think touch on our value of excellence,” said Sarah A. Soule, the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior. “Words such as honest, generous, accessible, and deeply invested in the success of the students were used, as well as descriptions of offering candid feedback and mentoring being treated not as an obligation but as a responsibility and an honor.”
Sarah A. Soule (left) and Ali Yurukoglu | SF Photo
“Ali, you are a terrific asset to our faculty, a terrific asset to the PhD program, the MBA and MSX program, and we are just delighted to honor you today,” Soule said, addressing Yurukoglu in her remarks.
One of Yurukoglu’s advisees, Federico Llarena, a 4th-year PhD student, spoke of his own experiences. “Ali continues to challenge me to ask big, exciting questions and to answer them in precise, thorough, and thoughtful ways.” He then read comments from other past and current students. One wrote, “Ali is a gold-medal example of a faculty member, both for his advisees and all students in the group.” Another said, “Ali was the perfect advisor.”
Other students also praised his mentorship, mentioning his sage advice, humanity, and laconic style. “Ali served as liaison during my first year, and his guidance throughout the process drastically improved my experience as I worked through the challenges inherent in undertaking doctoral training,” said Alexander Almeida, a 2nd-year PhD student.
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