With the COVID-19 crisis resulting in the cancellation of the IMA Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta in June, IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) was unable to hold in-person award ceremonies to recognize outstanding students, academics, and student chapters for their achievements. While we couldn’t say “congrats” in person, IMA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019-2020 awards:

Faculty Award Winners:

  • Hadeel Nassar, CMA, CPA, CIA, University of Sharjah, won the Ursel K. Albers IMA Academic Mentor of the Year Award, which honors an academic mentor or student chapter advisor who has made significant contributions to IMA overall and IMA student members in particular.
  • Roopa Venkatesh, Ph.D., CMA, University of Nebraska at Omaha, won the R. Lee Brummet Award for Educators, which recognizes distinguished academics in the area of management accounting, particularly those with a record of scholarship in the field, service to IMA, and the promotion of management accounting as a profession. 
  • Kimberly Swanson Church, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City, won the IMA Faculty Leadership Award, given to a faculty member who has demonstrated significant leadership activities at the national, regional, and/or local levels of IMA.

In addition, the following individuals were named the winners of the 2020 IECJ® (IMA Educational Case Journal) Spring Short Case Writing Competition: 

  • First Place Award ($1,000): “Duralock: Budgeting for Decision-Making,” by Harshini P. Siriwardane and Karen De Meyst (both at Miami University, Ohio, USA) 
  • Second Place Award ($500): “GoGreen Supercenter,” by Donald Gribbin and Jagjit Saini (both at Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA) 
  • Third Place Award ($300): “Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, and the Prince: A Fairytale About Startup Challenges,” by Simon Kiesel, Würzburg, Germany

Recipients of grant funding from the IMA Research Foundation in 2020 include:  

$10,000 Grants:

  • “Enhancing Effective Skills for FP&A to Overcome People Challenges: The role of personality traits for the effectiveness of performance evaluation systems,” Lorenzo Patelli and Kelsey Dworkis, both of University of Denver, Colorado
  • “Integrated Business Performance and Intangible Assets: The Case of Human Capital,” Dr. Cornelis T. van der Lugt, Stellenbosch University Business School, Cape Town, South Africa
  • “Sustainable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and New Communication Technologies: From a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ notion of value and corporate reporting,” Ariela Caglio, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy; and Paolo Quattrone, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom

$5,000 Grants: 

  • “Does the entrepreneurial orientation of a CFO matter in a firm’s value creation?” Monica Kabutey, doctoral student, University of North Texas, Texas
  • “Engaging Accountants in Value-Based Healthcare: Strategic Performance Evaluation,” Gillian Vesty and Dr. Olga Kokshagina, both of RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Student Award Winners:

  • Ingrid Zarate Albarran, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was awarded $5,000 as this year’s Stuart Cameron and Margaret McLeod Memorial Fund Scholarship winner, in recognition of her outstanding academic achievement and contributions to IMA.
  • Ryan Miggin, Dixie State University, was awarded $7,500 as the winner of the inaugural Century Student Scholarship, given to an outstanding student attending an IMA-endorsed school. (See a profile of Ryan in this issue.)
  • Kiara Sims, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, author of “Diversifying Career Preparation,” won the Student Manuscript Award.

In addition, the following students were awarded IMA Memorial Education Fund (MEF) Scholarships in acknowledgement of their academic merit and IMA service: Caleb Adams (Utah State University); Grace Gallagher (The University of Scranton); Laura Harper (University of Findlay); Huy Hoang (University of Texas at Arlington); Abigail Huber (Culver-Stockton College); Jaslyn Masina (Utah State University); Katherine Medcalf (Missouri State University); Ryan Miggin (Dixie State University); Nathan Morgan (King’s College); James Sanchez (California State University, Fresno); and Paul Wolf (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). Awards for these scholarships ranged from $1,000 to $2,500.

Student Chapter Awards:

The following schools were selected as Outstanding Student Chapters in the Award of Excellence Competition, which recognizes the top student chapters that promote IMA's mission and vision statements as well as provides a broad spectrum of activities and services to their student members:

  • Athens State University
  • Culver-Stockton College
  • University of Hawai’i at Manoa
  • The University of Scranton
  • Utah State University

Chapters at the following schools won an IMA Certificate of Excellence:

  • Gold:
    • California State University, Fresno
    • Grand Canyon University
    • Stark State College
    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    • The University of Jordan
  • Silver: 
    • Ashland University 
    • Missouri State University 
    • Valdosta State University

IMA Student Case Competition:

Teams of students from Texas State University; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Rhode Island; and Valdosta State University were selected as finalists in this year’s Student Case Competition. Each of the top four teams received $3,000. The winning team, from Texas State University, was awarded an additional $2,000. Team members of the winning team were Amanda Craig, Caitlynn Grimes, Addison LePerre, and Hannah Torres, with Carolyn Conn, CPA, serving as faculty advisor. 

Clark Johnson Achievement Award: 

The IMA student chapter at Stark State College won the Clark Johnson Achievement Award in recognition of its innovative achievement in meeting the needs of IMA regular and student members. They were awarded $5,000. This is the second consecutive year Stark State has won this award.

Upcoming Deadlines:

Students are reminded that the first deadline (October 31) for the IMA Student Chapter Award of Excellence and Outstanding Student Chapter is approaching soon. Find information and an application on the IMA website. In addition, students can find the case for the 2021 Student Case Competition, “Should Star Textiles Cut Out the Intermediaries?” in the August 2020 issue of Strategic Finance.

Doctoral students should also be aware of some recent changes to scholarships awarded by the IMA Research Foundation. The Foundation will now present two awards annually: The IMA Distinguished Scholar Award (previously known as the IMA Research Foundation Siegel Lifetime Achievement Award) and the IMA Emerging Scholar Award (previously known as the IMA Research Foundation Emerging Scholar Manuscript Award). The Foundation is accepting nominations for these awards from September 1 through January 31, 2021. The Foundation also recently introduced the IMA Doctoral Scholars Program (which replaces the Doctoral Summer Research Scholarship Program and the Doctoral Student Grant Program). Please visit the IMA Research Foundation website for more details.

The IMA website is the source for other information (including application forms and deadlines) related to all awards for students and student chapters and for educators