Lattes have gone iced, shorts abound, and graduation approaches: It’s nearly summer in Palo Alto. “This is award season at the GSB,” said Stanford Graduate School of Business Interim Dean Peter DeMarzo.
At three memorable ceremonies, students and alumni gathered to honor GSB faculty members in the MBA, MSx, and PhD programs whose impact transcends the classroom.
Photo by Julia Yu
MBA Distinguished Teaching Awards
After reviewing nearly a hundred student nominations for forty different instructors, the MBA Academic Committee presented Distinguished Teaching Awards to two faculty members: Daniela Saban, an associate professor of operations, information, and technology, and Mike Harmon, a lecturer in management.
“We gather today to celebrate something extraordinary — the art of teaching,” said Claire Benninger, MBA ’26. “In a world fixated on what can be measured and quantified, we sometimes overlook the immeasurable impact of a great teacher.”
Saban was recognized for transforming a formidable course — Optimization and Simulation Modeling — into “one of the most supportive, empowering learning experiences” of students’ first year, according to Rob Rush, MBA ’25.
“‘I was in the bottom quartile after the midterm and had never felt more out of place in a classroom,’” Rush read at the ceremony, quoting a classmate’s nomination. “‘But Daniela never gave up on me. She met with me individually, cheered me on, and made me believe I could do hard things.’ This student later scored in a higher quartile on the final and, more importantly, walked away believing they belonged at the GSB.”
Harmon, like Saban, was praised for the care he devotes to his course, his classroom, and the individual growth of the students who walk through his door.
“[Harmon] turned one of the GSB’s most technical and intimidating topics” — Financial Restructuring — “into a class that students describe, without hesitation, and I quote here, as ‘the best course I have taken at Stanford,’” said Philipp Schellhaas, MBA ’25. “He balances deep technical expertise with an extraordinary gift for making the complex feel conquerable. For many students, especially those without finance backgrounds, Mike created a space where intimidating financial concepts became not just understandable, but engaging and exciting.”
MSx Excellence in Teaching Award
Suzie Noh | Photo by Nancy Rothstein
This year’s MSx Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to Suzie Noh, an assistant professor of accounting.
“The Teaching Excellence Award is not just about academic brilliance — though that certainly is a key factor,” said Jason Ally, MS ’25. “It’s about an educator’s ability to inspire, challenge, and connect with us on a deeper level. It recognizes someone who embodies the curiosity, collaboration, and intellectual rigor that define the MSx Program.”
As an undergrad, Marie Inamasu, MS ’25, had found accounting “technical and uninviting.” Noh changed that.
“I learned to see [accounting] as the language of business,” Inamasu said. “But what makes Professor Noh truly exceptional isn’t just her brilliance in the classroom or her ability to explain financial statements. It’s her humanity. She has this incredible gift of making every student feel like they matter. And that’s rare.”
PhD Faculty Distinguished Service Award
The PhD Student Association presented this year’s PhD Faculty Distinguished Service Award to Michael Ostrovsky, a professor of economics.
Peter DeMarzo and Michael Ostrovsky | Photo by Julia Yu
“I’ve always felt that our PhD program is really the jewel of this place and something we do that’s incredibly special,” said Interim Dean DeMarzo. “It’s terrific that today we get the honor of congratulating Mike for all that he’s done.”
“Mike cares not only about doing economics for its own sake, but also the impact that we can have as economists on the problems that city governments, or companies, or any market designer might face,” said second-year PhD student Eric Tang. “And that’s important, because that’s what makes this work important.”
Students also praised Ostrovsky for his personal and intellectual generosity of spirit — and his candor.
“In one meeting I had with Mike, he told me that I had a really good idea at the core of my paper, but had covered it in a mountain of garbage,” wrote Joey Feffer, a fourth-year PhD student. “That was the moment I knew Mike would be a great advisor, for two reasons. First, he has a really strong sense of what’s important. The second is that he’s always pushing us to be better. And he follows up his advice by making himself available.… It’s very helpful to know that if I reach out to Mike with a maybe slightly panicked email, in a few hours I’ll get a reassuring response.”
Ostrovsky was delighted to receive such an “incredibly meaningful recognition,” he told the crowd.
“I really think that right now is an amazing time to be a PhD student in economics and the social sciences more generally, because so many new markets are springing up, so many new technologies are springing up, so many things are changing, and whenever things are changing so rapidly in such interesting, hard to understand ways, that’s when there is a lot of work for us to do.”
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