Congratulations to Our 2014 Recipient
Kristin Laurin, assistant professor
Excerpts and Highlights from Nominations
On Teaching
Kristin teaches OB678 The Design and Process of Experimental Research (DPER), which is the workshop class that all OB micro students take, and she is the perfect person to do it. She has made DPER into, not just a fun and useful way to spend a Wednesday morning, but a force for improving the level of community and cohesiveness in the micro-OB program. Kristin’s generous and constructive advice not only has strengthened our work but also has served as a model for us in our interactions with each other. Her contagious enthusiasm and desire for all of us us to succeed have set a tone of collaboration and exchange that has extended outside of her classroom. Our future colleagues will have a lot to thank her for.
On Advising and Research
Kristin is amazing to work with one-on-one, so it’s no wonder that so many students are working with her, and that even those who are not working with her often seek her advice. As a research mentor, she has always seemed to know exactly what I need from her, and she strikes a perfect balance between providing guidance and encouragement on one hand and autonomy and responsibility on the other. I look forward to meetings with her because they are always so generative and constructive, and I invariably leave feeling energized—even when the meeting was to discuss a study that didn’t work, which is saying a lot. Kristin’s sheer excitement about research and mentoring have been an inspiration and a gift. I can’t say it better than one of Kristin’s nominators, who wrote that Kristin “has quickly become one of my research heroes and role models.”
On Fostering a Scholarly Community
Kristin has also contributed to the PhD student community by starting a separate group focused on writing skills. Like DPER, this group has been incredibly useful, full of thoughtful advice, and often hilarious, and like DPER it has also had a larger impact on the culture in our program. In addition to leading these writing workshops, Kristin has encouraged us to share our writing with each other and hold each other accountable to our goals, which has led to several of us meeting independently every week to check in and write together. I’ve been in this program for about a million years now, and this is the most organized and collaborative the group has ever been, which I’ve found very exciting.
Exemplar
I feel honored and grateful to call Kristin one of my mentors here at the GSB. Working one-on-one with Kristin is where I get my best research training. She is very generous with her time and always encourages me to explore my research ideas. She never turning down my requests for feedback on research projects - even for projects that I am not collaborating with her on.