Fisher College of Business marked its annual celebration of the very best in scholarship, service, research and executive leadership at the 2022 Pace Setters Awards.

The event, held virtually for the second consecutive year, recognized 82 undergraduate students and four faculty members.

“The events of the past two years have challenged us in ways never before seen,” Anil K. Makhija, dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business, told the virtual audience. “I am proud, however, of how our community of students, faculty and alumni have met these challenges, excelled in their pursuit of scholarship and service, and put their stamps on a tradition that is now more than 60 years old.”

The ceremony also celebrated the accomplishments and engagement of alumnus Chris Igodan (BSBA ’06), vice president and chief financial officer of Nationwide’s Financial Corporate Solutions. Igodan was named the 2022 Pace Setters Executive Award recipient — his second Pace Setters Award. In 2005, he received the Walter M. Rudin Junior Award as a third-year student.Chris Igodan's journey to Fisher and the Pace Setters Executive Award

Igodan, who as a student specialized in accounting and finance, was recognized for his work with the Ohio Society of CPAs and the Ohio CPA Foundation, as well as his service as vice president of the National Association of Black Accountants’ Columbus chapter. In 2019, he was named Alumnus of the Year by Project THRIVE, an undergraduate program at Fisher that is increasing diversity across accounting and finance by introducing more underrepresented students to the industry.

“Knowing just how important a few organizations were to his personal professional development, he made a conscious effort to give back and pay forward to future accounting leaders,” said Tim Paridon (BSBA ’07), the Pace Setters Committee Chair and the Executive Award presenter.

Individual Student Awards

The Jack W. Stephenson Award

In recognition of a student with outstanding scholastic leadership and co-curricular accomplishments

Nicholas Regas

• Fourth-year marketing student
• Four-year member of Ohio State’s varsity cross country and track and field teams
• Worked his way from walk-on athlete during his first year to a regular contributor and track and field team captain in 2021-2022
• The only cross country representative on Ohio State’s Student Athlete Advisory Council
• Helped improved the understanding and adoption of NCAA legislation and initiatives from Ohio State’s Department of Athletics

Katherine Porter Allen Prize

In recognition of an outstanding female business student at Fisher

Allison Ruhe

• Recent Fisher graduate, having earned a BSBA with a specialization in finance this past December
• Member of the Dean’s Leadership Academy, the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association
• Served as the community and outreach chair for the Archer-Torres Activities Board
• Created educational and service activities for more than 500 residents living in the two dorms
• Participated in Buck-I- Serv in 2019, spending her spring break in Florida building houses through Habitat for Humanity

Walter M. Rudin Junior Award

In recognition of academic and leadership excellence by a third-year Fisher student

Ruth Tadese

• Third-year student specializing in accounting
• Served as a Peer Mentor to first-year students
• Residence advisor at the Lincoln House Residence Hall
• Mentors nearly 100 first-year honors community students and facilitates programs that support residence life values of inclusion, community, learning and wellness
• Member of Project THRIVE

S. Maurice Bostic and Birch S.M. Bostic Memorial Award

In recognition of academic excellence and outstanding leadership

Cameron Drum

• Fourth-year student specializing in finance and economics
• Participated in the Fisher FIRST program and subsequently served as a program mentor to other first-year students
• Founded Buckeye Buddies, a student organization dedicated to providing opportunities for intellectually and physically disabled children to play flag football in a friendly, competitive and developmental environment
• Led Buckeye Buddies’ official partnership with Special Olympics Ohio and has raised more than $10,000 for the Special Olympics

Robert E. Georges Senior Award

In recognition of academic excellence and outstanding leadership by a graduating fourth-year student at Fisher

Claire Heinle

• Fourth-year student specializing in logistics management and minoring in international conflict and peace studies and LGBTQ+ studies
• Earned a Supply Chain Management Summer Program Certificate from Kuehne Logistics University in Hamburg, Germany in 2019
• Served two years as a resident advisor, including overseeing an all-male floor during her first year as an RA and helping diverse and underrepresented female students in Pomerene House navigate their Ohio State experiences

Individual Faculty Awards

The Bostic-Georges Faculty Service Award

In recognition of exemplary service to the college and university community

Larry Inks, Clinical Associate Professor, Management and Human Resources

• Previous recipient of the Daniel Westerbeck Teaching Excellence Awards for undergraduate and graduate students
• Serves as the faculty advisor to the Fisher Veterans Association, a position he has held for nearly 10 years
• Engages with students at all levels, including working with MHRM students on various case competitions and conducting more than 40 programs for executive education students at Fisher
• Mentors new faculty members; has been a trusted voice for the university’s career road-mapping initiative and continues to advise on the ever-changing return-to-work dynamics presented by the pandemic
• Nominating statement: “Professor Ink’s service activities have enriched life at Fisher.”

Faculty Research Award

In recognition of a faculty member who has made notable research contributions in their field of study

Grant Donnelly, Assistant Professor, Marketing and Logistics

• Recognized as an expert in judgment and decision-making, consumer welfare and field experiments
• Recent research topics have included gender dynamics and workplace deadlines, the efficacy of taxes on sugary drinks, the psychology behind properly declining an invitation and how to give gifts that won’t offend a recipient
• Regular contributor to The Conversation and the Harvard Business Review
• Nominating statement: “Grant is exploring big ideas in his research that significantly impact consumer and societal well-being and is doing so with theoretical and methodological sophistication.”

Daniel Westerbeck Teaching Excellence Awards (Graduate)

In recognition of teaching excellence as determined by graduate student input

Jay Wellman, Clinical Associate Professor, Finance

• Has taught with distinction at every level at Fisher — from undergraduate to graduate to executive education
• Served as the academic director of the Working Professional MBA (WPMBA) program
• Helped transform the WPMBA program it into a recognized leader among part-time programs nationally
• Teaches the core finance class in both the Full-Time and Working Professional MBA programs
• Nominating statement: “Jay consistently contributes in a positive manner to the education and professional development of graduate students. He approaches his teaching and related commitments with dedication, innovativeness and the view that he wants to best prepare students so that they can successfully achieve their post-graduate goals.”

Daniel Westerbeck Teaching Excellence Award (Undergraduate)

In recognition of teaching excellence as determined by undergraduate student input

Steve DeNunzio, Senior Lecturer, Marketing and Logistics

• Was named the ENGIE-Axium Max M. Fisher College of Business Distinguished Teaching Fellow
• Academic and practitioner expertise in logistics, including logistics technology and application, lean logistics and retail management
• Serves as the academic director of the WPMBA program
• Previously served as the academic director of the Master of Business Logistics and Engineering program
• Created and teaches a marketing ad retailing course built around his years of experience in marketing and logistics at DSW
• Nominating statement: “Steve finds solutions to problems, and he does it with grace and professionalism. Steve’s commitment to our students and the college is, we believe, unparalleled, and matched only by his impact.”