Cristina Gibson Receives Outstanding Mentor Award from the Academy of Management

Pepperdine Graziadio Business School’s Dr. Cristina Gibson, Dean's Distinguished Professor of Management, was awarded the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Academy of Management. The award recognizes a scholar who has excelled at mentoring others in achieving their career objectives through moral, social, and intellectual support. The Academy of Management defines each of these criteria as:

• Intellectual support: Helps the mentee develop ideas constructively (e.g., by brainstorming, offering a sounding board, suggesting a diverse perspective, providing written feedback) – investing one’s (scarce) intellectual capital in the service of mentees.
• Social support: Helps the mentee develop a professional network that will allow him/her to be successful (e.g., introducing them to others, writing reference letters, suggesting them as co-authors/reviewers/editors) – investing one’s (scarce) social capital in the service of mentees.
• Moral support: Genuinely cares about the well-being and development of the mentee (e.g., encouragement through difficult times, helps maintain self-efficacy, provides a perspective or specific career/work strategies) – investing one’s (scarce) mental energy in the service of mentees.

The award committee consisted of Randall S. Peterson of London Business School,  John Hollenbeck of Michigan State University,  John Matthieu of University of Connecticut, and Maurice Schweitzer of University of Pennsylvania.

To date, Cristina has advised 41 doctoral students, 65 junior faculty, and 12 students at other levels. She has actively involved these colleagues in her research, co-authoring 32 publications with students and 27 with junior faculty.

“I personally have experienced her networking graciousness when I was on the job market,” said one of Dr. Gibson’s letter writers. “Cristina took me around to every reception and presentation she attended at [the Academy of Management], strategically introducing me to contacts of hers who were hiring, and vocally championing my research.”

Pepperdine Graziadio congratulates Dr. Gibson for receiving this well-deserved honor! To read the full press release from the Academy of Management, click here.