McTiernan Wins Distinguished Woman in Business Education Award

“The Patricia M. Flynn Distinguished Woman in Business Education Award was established by WAME in 2016 to recognize female thought leaders whose leadership, research, and educational initiatives have had an impact on women by making a difference in business education. Dr. Susan McTiernan, the recipient of the 2017 award, has been a pioneer and an instrumental influence on women in business and business education, and her work in this area has had an impact on many of us.”

These words shared by Rama Yelkur only begin to capture the impact that Susan McTiernan has had on women in business education. Yelkur, who serves as dean of the St. John Fisher College School of Business, chaired the Women Administrators in Management Education (WAME) Affinity Group during the 2016–17 year and led the committee that selected McTiernan as the 2017 Flynn Award recipient. McTiernan currently serves as dean at the Mario J. Gabelli School of Business at Roger Williams University. She embodies this award with a career dedicated to advancing women in business education, including being an early leader and champion of the WAME Affinity Group. Her resume also includes leadership roles in other AACSB affinity groups, including Associate Deans and New Deans Learning Community. McTiernan has also served on the board of directors of GMAC®, has been a Fulbright scholar, is involved in the U.N.’s PRME Working Group on Gender Equality, and has spoken extensively and published articles focusing on women in business education, all while being a consistent and strong advocate for female students within the business school.

McTiernan was honored with this award on April 24 during the WAME Second Annual Patricia M. Flynn Distinguished Woman Leader in Business Education Award Reception, held during AACSB’s 2017 International Conference and Annual Meeting. The WAME group was very fortunate to be joined by the award namesake, Patricia (Pat) Flynn, to present this award. Flynn’s remarks summarize the above achievements and applaud McTiernan as a leader who has been “actively involved in trying to accelerate the pace of change toward gender equality.” She further affirmed McTiernan’s impact as a “… creative, energetic, fearless, and visible leader.”

When asked about her selection as recipient of this award, McTiernan said, “I am so pleased as well as humbled to be selected for this very special award. Working to support women in management education has been a critical part of my career, and it has been fulfilling to see the continued increase in the number of women in leadership roles. I appreciate everything that AACSB and WAME have done to advance these efforts and look forward to continuing to partner in the important work on gender and other forms of diversity within management education.”

It remains a top priority for AACSB to support the WAME Affinity Group and diversity and inclusion initiatives, and we extend our deepest gratitude to the distinguished women working to advance gender equality within the business education landscape. We are honored to have McTiernan as a champion for these efforts, and on behalf of all members, we extend our congratulations. Further, we invite all women administrators within our membership to get involved with the WAME Affinity Group to increase this impact.