Robert Morier, clinical professor of entrepreneurship and associate director of external relations, has been honored with the Schulze Publication Award from the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Exchange (EIX). The Schulze Publication Awards recognize the most impactful research in the field, honoring authors who successfully bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world practice, and Morier’s article, “Why Lifeguards Make the Best Founders and CEOs,” was recognized as a significant contribution to the Theory and Research category.

TD Bank Endowed Professor of Finance Michelle Lowry, PhD, won the Brattle Group Distinguished Paper Prize for research published in the Journal of Finance in the area of Corporate Finance. The winning paper is “Regulatory Fragmentation,” and Lowry and her co-authors, Ekaterina Volkova, PhD, of the University of Melbourne, and Joseph Kalemenovitz, PhD, of the Simon Business School at University of Rochester, were recognized at the American Finance Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia in Jan. 2026.

Alejandra Holgate, BS business and engineering ‘29 and a Pennoni Honors College student, received a mini-grant from Drexel’s Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Programs to support a research project during winter term.

Holgate received $1,000 to support the design and construction of an automated test rig that uses hyperspectral imaging and ultrasonic sensing to evaluate thermally degraded reclaimed bricks. Undertaken in partnership with Arvin Ebrahimkhanlou, PhD, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, the work aims to advance circular construction by providing evidence-based guidelines for post-fire material reuse.

Undergraduate research mini-grants are awarded by Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Programs in the Pennoni Honors College, and each one supports faculty and student collaboration in undergraduate research, scholarship and creative work while also helping students practice writing applications for funding opportunities.

Dean’s Industry Fellow and Professor of Finance David Becher, PhD, was elected as an Academic Director of the Financial Management Association (FMA), an association of academic researchers and practitioners in finance. He officially assumed the role at the FMA’s annual conference in Vancouver, BC, in October 2025, and will have a leading role in organizing the FMA’s conference and other programming for the next three years.

As an influencer and social media marketing analyst at Qulture Agency, Dilnoza Kurbonova, marketing and business analytics ‘25, is using skills she learned from her time at LeBow, and less than a year into a full-time role, she’s already giving back to LeBow as an alumna.

In a Consumer Behavior course taught by Carissa M. Colligan, doctoral candidate in marketing, Kurbonova served as a guest lecturer on working with influencers and their impact on marketing and social media today. She told students, “Taking this course really taught me to understand the consumer perspective and how day-to-day life impacts their decisions. I still think of the five frameworks of decision-making that we had learned by heart in this class.”

In the world of startups, knowing which problems to solve can make or break a venture. But what if there was a better way to find the opportunities hidden within the challenges?

That’s exactly what Close School of Entrepreneurship Vice Dean Chuck Sacco explores in his latest article, “The Problem with Problems.” Published by the Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange (EIX), a free, peer-reviewed resource on entrepreneurship and innovation for entrepreneurs, innovators and those who support them, the piece introduces a simple yet powerful framework for evaluating any problem. Chuck’s method uses four key dimensions—Frequency, Severity, Urgency, and Longevity—to help identify which problems are truly worth solving.

Adam Yoder, DBA ’25, was featured in City and State PA‘s August 2025 edition for his role as city council president in Williamsport, a city in north-central Pennsylvania, and the critical issue of “home rule” among Pennsylvania’s municipalities.

Yoder was also interviewed by Spotlight PA, an independent, nonprofit investigative newsroom, on his research as part of the DBA program and how it has impacted his work as an elected official.

Karla Trotman, EMBA ’15, was featured in a story on Forbes about female entrepreneurs. Electro Soft, where Trotman is owner CEO, participated in a six-week career bootcamp focused on female leaders through the Goodwin College of Professional Studies’ Manufacturing Career Accelerator Program. Trotman is a member of the Drexel Alumni Board of Governors and previously served as chair of Drexel LeBow’s Corporate and Executive Education Alumni Council.

Shawkat Hammoudeh, PhD, professor of economics, received the 2024 Kuwait Prize from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). Prof. Hammoudeh was recognized along with Dima Jamali, PhD, vice president for academic affairs at The Canadian University Dubai, in the category of Economic and Social Sciences (Administrative Sciences). Hammoudeh and Jamali will share a monetary award of 40,000 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $135,000).

Yoto Yotov, PhD, professor of economics and academic director of the Center for Global Policy Analysis, authored a new working-paper chapter titled Gravity for Undergrads to support undergraduate education in international trade. The chapter introduces the gravity model of trade, explains its theoretical and econometric foundations and concludes with real-world policy applications using hands-on data analysis.