Distinguished Scholars

MOC Distinguished Scholar Award

The MOC Distinguished Scholar Award, established in 2002, recognizes senior scholars in our field who have made exceptional contributions to understanding individual, relational, and collective cognition in organizational contexts throughout their careers. To be eligible for the award, an individual must first be a truly distinguished scholar. The individual must have conducted research that has had a significant influence in the field by publishing high-impact articles in the very best journals. Second, recipients must have contributed to our field through service by holding a leadership position with the MOC division or the Academy, by serving as an action/associate editor of leading journals, and/or been an exceptional mentor for doctoral students.

Nominations for the Distinguished Scholar Award are accepted from all MOC division members. To nominate a scholar for this award, please send a letter of nomination with an explanation of why you are nominating the individual for the award to MOC Division Chair.

2024 - Gerard P. Hodgkinson

2023 - Sally Maitlis
2022
- Kevin Corley

2021 Janet Dukerich
2020
- James P. Walsh 
2019
- Neal M. Ashkanasy for interview click and picture click here 
2018
- Blake Ashforth for interview click here and picture click here
2017 
Mary Ann Glynn for interview click here, video and picture click here
2016 
Michael G. Pratt for interview click here and picture click here
2015
 - Kathleen Sutcliffe
2014 
Sim Sitkin
2013 Frances Milliken
2012
 - Jane Dutton
2011 
Joe Porac
2010 
Denny Gioia
2009 
Marlena Fiol
2008
- James G. March
2007
- Denise Rousseau
2005
- George Huber
2004
- William Starbuck
2003
- Anne Huff
2002
Karl Weick

 2025 MOC Distinguished Scholar

Dr. Batia Wiesenfeld

At AOM 2025, MOC celebrated the heart of our scholarly community and recognized some of our brightest stars! At the center of this year’s plenary was the formal recognition of Professor Batia Wiesenfeld as the recipient of the 2025 MOC Distinguished Scholar Award.

As the Andre J.L. Koo Professor of Management and Director of the Business & Society Program at NYU Stern, Professor Wiesenfeld has made profound contributions to our understanding of organizational change and identity; digital work and the future of organizations; and stakeholder responses to restructuring, remote work, and crises. Her address was both thought-provoking and timely—offering a compelling vision of how cognition will shift and expand as humans continue to leverage AI.

Re-watch her address here: https://youtu.be/GI0N2UI4eOI

 

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Batia Wiesenfeld, Andre J.L. Koo Professor of Management, is also the Director of the Business and Society Program at New York University’s Stern School of Business. She is an expert on the effective management of organizational change across industries and sectors. She studies how technology changes the future of work and organizations, and how to manage employee and stakeholder reactions to layoffs, restructuring, remote work, and stigmatizing crises. Currently, much of her work focuses on how new AI/ML and digital health technologies are changing healthcare work and healthcare organizations, and how these technologies can be used for equity, upskilling, and at scale. Her work is multi-method, incorporating surveys, experiments, archival data analysis, interviews and observation. She is also an expert on theories of organizational identification, fairness, and construal level.

A former editor of Organization Science, she serves or served on multiple editorial boards including Administrative Science Quarterly and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Management, and has received several large grants to support her work, including from the National Science Foundation. Batia received her PhD in Management from Columbia Business School, serves as an executive coach, and consults to senior leadership in a variety of organizations.