Georgia Tech College of Management honored faculty, students, and staff who exemplify excellence on April 14 at the College of Management's Third Annual Honors Day.

"Our Excellence Awards play a key role in motivating our entire College community to reach greater heights of excellence and in rewarding truly outstanding performance," says College of Management Dean Steve Salbu. "The dedication and drive of our many impressive people have taken us far in our mission to become the world's preeminent business school for management and technology."

Salbu says that when he first joined the College in 2006, he realized that these type of awards weren't in place. "That didn't seem right," noted Salbu noted at the awards luncheon. So he approached key alumni about endowing the awards, and their support far exceeded his expectations. "Today we're also celebrating the fact that no one – no one – has more loyal alumni than Georgia Tech."

Faculty award winners include:

• Saby Mitra, the William N. Anderson II associate professor of information technology management, who won the Brady Family Award for Faculty Research Excellence.
• Narayanan Jayaraman, the Evelyn T. and Mallory C. Jones Jr. professor of finance, who won the Brady Family Award for Faculty Teaching Excellence. The two aforementioned awards were funded by Charles W. Brady, IM 1957, chairman emeritus of Invesco.
• Atalay Atasu, assistant professor of operations management, who won the Linda and Lloyd L. Byars Award for Faculty Excellence. The late Lloyd Byars was a professor of organizational behavior at the College of Management.
• Eric Overby, assistant professor of information technology management, who won the James F. Frazier Jr. Award for Teaching Excellence. Frazier, IM 1971, is a founding partner of the firm Frazier and Deeter and an accounting lecturer in the College.

Student award winners include:

• Ravi Dayabhai, a senior management major, who won the John R. Battle Award for Student Excellence. This award was funded by Lewis A. Patterson III, IM 1968 and CEO of BPU Associates LLC, in honor of the late John A. Battle, a vice president of The Dow Chemical Company, who helped make it possible for Patterson to attend Georgia Tech.
• Amy Wheble, a sophomore management major, who won The Dow Chemical – P.C. McCutcheon Prize for Outstanding Student Achievement.
• Jordan Jones, BSM December 2010, who won the Jennifer R. and Charles B. Rewis Award for Student Excellence in Accounting. The Rewises, who both graduated from the College in 1992, are accounting executives (she with Ernst & Young; he with Ryan & Company).
• Praveen Kumar Rajasekar, a first-year MBA student, who won the Gaye Gwinn Sims Memorial Award for Student Excellence. This award was funded by friends of the late Sims, a 1986 industrial engineering graduate of Georgia Tech, who was COO of Atlantic Investment Company.
• Josh Bank, a second-year MBA student, who won the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship – Cowan – Turner Student Leadership Award. This award was created in honor of William B. Turner, IM 1943, director emeritus of W.C. Bradley Co.; and Joel H. Cowan, IM 1958, president and chairman of Habersham & Cowan, and the William B. Turner Chair in Servant Leadership.
• Wen Wen, a PhD student in operations management; and Konstantinos Grigoriou, a PhD candidate in strategic management. They shared the Ashford Watson Stalnaker Memorial Prize for Student Excellence. This award was established in memory of the late Stalnaker, IM 1961, MS 1962, who served as a faculty leader in management science at Georgia Tech.

Staff award winners include:

• Lauren McDow, manager of undergraduate programs, who won the Verlander Family Award for Staff Excellence. The award was funded by Karen and Chris A. Verlander, IM 1970, who is senior vice president of corporate development for Associated Industries of Florida.
• Kurt Paquette, chief administrator and finance officer, who won the Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Award for Staff Excellence. Zelnak, IM 1969, is chairman, CEO, and president of Martin Marietta Materials.

Most awards included $5,000. They were presented during a formal luncheon in the Jennings Courtyard of the College of Management building. The event also recognized past winners of the business school's Alumni Awards as well as the holders and benefactors of scholarships, fellowships, and endowed chairs and professorships.