Melissa Graebner, the Robert C. Evans Endowed Professor of Business Administration at Gies College of Business, has been elected to the Fellows Group of the Academy of Management – a distinction recognizing and honoring AOM members who have made significant contributions to the science of practice and management. Graebner is the Director of the Initiative for Qualitative Research in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (INQUIRE) at Gies and is a world-renowned scholar in entrepreneurship and strategy.

Graebner, who joined Gies College of Business in 2019, also serves as chair of the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and International Business area at Gies. A former co-editor of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (2018-2023), her research interests include strategy and resource acquisition in entrepreneurial firms, M&A decision-making and implementation, and qualitative research methods. Her research has received honors including best paper awards from the Academy of Management Journal and Strategic Organization. Graebner has held visiting appointments at INSEAD and at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and has held elected positions in the Academy of Management and the Strategic Management Society. She is a Fellow of the Strategic Management Society and has worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co., where she focused on technology mergers and acquisitions. She earned her MBA and her PhD in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University.

“It is such a great honor to be elected to the Fellows Group of the Academy of Management, and I’m grateful that my work has made such a positive impact in the field,” said Graebner, who is also a Scholar with Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative. “Moving to Gies College of Business has enabled me to do some of my best work, and I appreciate the resources and commitment to ideas that have enabled me to flourish here. I’m also honored to be in the same group as fellow Gies professors Willie Ocasio and Joe Mahoney, who are so accomplished and are such valued colleagues.”

With Graebner’s election, this becomes the second consecutive year that a Gies Business professor has been elected to the prestigious Fellows Group. In 2023, William Ocasio, the James F. Towey Professor of Business and Leadership and Director of the Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative earned the honor. Graebner and Ocasio join Joseph Mahoney, Professor of Business Administration and Caterpillar Chair of Business, as the three current Gies Business faculty in the Fellows Group. Mahoney was elected in 2012.

“Melisssa Graebner’s works have garnered over 30,000 citations in the research literature. Her recognition by the AOM is well deserved, and we are delighted for her,” Mahoney said. “The hirings in recent years of Melissa from the University of Texas at Austin and Willie Ocasio from Northwestern University demonstrate a commitment by the Gies College of Business for excellence in management to complement strengths in Accountancy and Finance. Now in back-to-back years, Willie Ocasio and Melissa Graebner have been named Fellows of the Academy of Management.”