Johnson celebrates Class of 2020 award winners

June 22, 2020 By: Katelyn Godoy

Commencement cap and tassel with confetti

The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management proudly presents its award winners and special honor recipients from the Class of 2020.

John Blodgett, MBA ’84 Peer Award

Katie Colton, MBA ’20

The John Blodgett Peer Award was established by the Class of 1984 in memory of their classmate, John Blodgett. In honor of John, the first-year class selects a graduating MBA student who has made a significant contribution to the first-years through formal or informal teaching, advising, and/or coaching roles.

BR Consulting Award

Sumaiya Jaweed, MBA ’20
Natalie Rose, MBA ’20

Given by Big Red Consulting, this award recognizes two graduating BRC consultants who displayed leadership in their BRC project and delivered excellence to a local business or nonprofit or a Cornell alumni or student organization.

Consulting Award

Isabelle Caffry, MBA ’20
Neil Sen, MBA ’20

The Consulting Award recognizes graduating students who have demonstrated the ability to become outstanding consultants. The winners are selected by the Career Management Center and consulting faculty with input from the critical thinking and leadership staff and faculty.

Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award

Pia Moore, MBA ’20
Clementina Ojie, MBA ’20

The Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award, given by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, recognizes graduating MBA students who have shown leadership and commitment to the Johnson community by either encouraging or improving inclusion or expanding Johnson’s global brand and impact through their work on projects and initiatives.

Thomas R. Dyckman Accounting Excellence Award

Katie Emmett, MBA ’20

The Thomas R. Dyckman Accounting Excellence Award, named in honor of an esteemed, long-time Johnson accounting professor and awarded by the accounting faculty, is given in recognition of outstanding individual achievement in accounting studies.

Finance Award

Christopher Cox, MBA ’20

Awarded by the finance faculty, this recognition is given annually to the top graduating student in the field of finance.

Albert Fried, Jr. Fellows

Avery Adams, MBA ’20
Marla Beyer, MBA ’20
Alina Everett, MBA ’20
Stephanie Jordan, MBA ’20
Pia Moore, MBA ’20

Made possible by a generous gift from Albert Fried, Jr. ’52, MBA ’53, fellows are nominated by the Johnson community and selected by a committee of deans, faculty, and staff. Fried Fellows are chosen for distinguishing themselves academically and as leaders.

Hemmeter Entrepreneurship Award

Ted Briggs, MBA ’20
Ricky Bureau, MBA ’20
Grace Deng, PhD ’22 (A&S)
Jeremy Snyder, MBA ’20
Yale Viny, MBA ’20

Given by the Hemmeter family and awarded by the entrepreneurship faculty, this award recognizes the creators of the business plan most likely to launch a successful enterprise. The winning business plan this year was jessup.ai.

Integrative Case Competition Winning Core Team

Adam Karl, MBA ’20
Edi Matraxhiu, MBA ’20
Caitlin Namnoum, MBA ’20
Vera Tang, MBA ’20
Tony Zhang, MBA ’20

The class-wide Integrative Case Competition serves as a capstone within the Two-Year MBA fall core. Teams must draw upon their training in critical and strategic thinking, finance, and strategy.

A. Donald Kelso Award

Guillaume Allard, MBA ’20
Prasad Batchu, MBA ’20
Jonathan Tin, MBA ’20

The A. Donald Kelso Award is given to students who have made significant contributions to the advancement of Johnson and whose contributions, while numerous, are often “unsung.”

Prasad Batchu, MBA ’20
(Two-Year MBA recipient)

Jonathan Tin, MBA ’20
(Two-Year MBA recipient)

Leadership Prize

Ashley Clark, MBA ’20
Murphy Lu, MBA ’20

Awarded by the management and organizations faculty, the leadership prize is given to one student in each Ithaca residential MBA program who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship in management and leadership coursework while expanding their interests in those fields in extracurricular pursuits and their chosen careers.

Murphy Lu, MBA ’20
(One-Year MBA recipient)

Leading Teams Case Competition Winning Core Team

One-Year MBA and Johnson Cornell Tech MBA programs

Alan Abraham, MBA ’20
Cassie Dai, MBA ’20
Derek Kellman, MBA ’20
Chad Kurylo, MBA ’20
Murphy Lu, MBA ’20

The Leading Teams Case Competition serves as a class-wide capstone to the One-Year and Johnson Cornell Tech MBA program’s first core course, Leading Teams.

Cassie Dai, MBA ’20
(Johnson Cornell Tech MBA)

Leading Teams Case Competition Winning Core Team

Two-Year MBA program

Bernardo Espinosa, MBA ’20
Tania Ghosh, MBA ’20
Jun Park, MBA ’20
Natalie Rose, MBA ’20
Shashwat Satyal, MBA ’20

The Leading Teams Case Competition serves as a class-wide capstone to the Two-Year MBA program’s first core course, Leading Teams.

McAllister Award in Honor of Charlotte Rosen for Excellence in Business Writing

Dayris Arias, MBA ’20
Jia Huang, MBA ’20
Emma Liang, MBA ’20
Nikunj Raithatha, MBA ’20
Adan Rodriguez, MBA ’20
Michael Zhang, MBA ’20

This award is given by the communications faculty to graduating international students for excellence in business writing.

McAllister Speech Award in Honor of Charlotte Rosen

Guillaume Allard, MBA ’20
Charlotte Xiaoyu Zhai, MBA ’20
James Edwards, MBA ’20
Tania Ghosh, MBA ’20
Stephanie Jordan, MBA ’20
Allison Latham, MBA ’20

The McAllister Speech Award in Honor of Charlotte Rosen is awarded by the communications faculty for excellence in management presentation.

Poets&Quants‘ Best & Brightest MBAs and MBAs to Watch

Jack Moriarty, MBA ’20
Deon Provost, MBA ’20
Kevin Shen, MBA ’20
Margot Waldron, MBA ’20

Selected by the associate dean for MBA programs and the MBA programs team, these students were chosen as Johnson’s nominees for Poets&Quants’ Best & Brightest MBAs and MBAs to Watch features.

Vithala & Saroj Rao Marketing Prize

Gina Stella, MBA ’20

Awarded by the marketing faculty, this prize recognized a graduating student who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship in the field of marketing.

S.C. Johnson Marketing Case Competition Winners

Gozde Akhumus Laftchiev, MBA ’20
Abhishek Banerjee, MBA ’20
Whitney Hayes, MBA ’20
Joseph Keliher, MBA ’20
David Pfohl, MBA ’20

The S.C. Johnson Case Competition is the second major class-wide competition during the Two-Year MBA program fall core.

Samuel C. Johnson Award in Sustainable Global Enterprise for Individual Leadership

Austin Blais, MBA ’20
Russell Grandin, MBA ’20

Awarded by the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, this award is given to students who have demonstrated excellence, leadership, and scholarship in the area of Sustainable Global Enterprise.

Samuel C. Johnson Award in Sustainable Global Enterprise for Team Impact

Avery Adams, MBA ’20
Henry Du Pont, MBA ’20
Sebastian Molina Gasman, MBA ’20
Stephanie Jordan, MBA ’20
Joshua Tanenbaum, MBA ’20

Awarded by the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, this award recognizes a student team whose efforts demonstrably improved the school’s programming in finance and sustainability.

Jan. H. Suwinski Award Given by Corning for Excellence in Strategic Operations

Emily Mayo, MBA ’20

Given by the operations, technology, and information management faculty, this award recognizes a graduating student who has demonstrated academic excellence in the field of operations.

Johnson Tech Award

Alina Everett, MBA ’20
Jia Huang, MBA ’20

Awarded by the operations, technology, and information management faculty, the Johnson Tech Award is given to students who have demonstrated academic excellence in the Digital Technology immersion and related coursework and who had also made significant co-curricular contributions to Johnson’s tech ecosystem.

Henny Wittink Memorial Marketing Prize

Ryan Moran, MBA ’20
Prabhjot Singh, MBA ’20

In honor of a prominent Dutch business leader and presented by the marketing faculty, prize winners are chosen for their academic performance and substantial contributions to Johnson in the field of marketing.

Johnson Degree Marshals

Sabina Bellizzi, MBA ’20
James Feld, MBA ’20

Awarded by the MBA programs team, Johnson Degree Marshals are selected on the basis of exemplary character, leadership, and service to the school. Degree Marshals personify what it means to be a Cornell MBA.

Class Agents

Matt Douglas, MBA ’20
Susan Freeman, MBA ’20
Monique Defour-Jones, MBA/MS ’h20
Jonathan Vlock, MBA ’20
Chuck Wong, MBA ’20
Julien Li, MBA ’20