Distinguished Scholar Award

Since 1980, the Organization and Management Theory Division has been presenting the Distinguished Scholar Award to scholars whose contributions have been central to the intellectual development of the field of organization studies. As individuals, each recipient embodies a career of scholarly achievement and has had a significant impact on OMT scholarship. Taken together, the list of honorees reflects the diverse theoretical and personal backgrounds of the division.

2018 OMT Distinguished Scholar Award

Alan Meyer, University of Oregon

Alan's talk took place on Monday, August 13, from 8 - 9:30 am. Click here to watch the video of Alan's Speech.

Past Winners

2017 Jerry Davis - Download his presentation "Design Democracy," watch it here, and read an interview here by Pondy Winner Derek Harmon.

2016 John Meyer - Download his presentation "Institutionalized Organization: Status and Prospects" and read an interview here by Pondy Winner Aruna Ranganathan.

2015 Martha Feldman – Download her presentation "Looking into the Arrow: Learning from Routines." Read an interview with Martha Feldman by Pondy Winner Mabel Abraham.

2014 Royston Greenwood – His talk was published as "OMT, Then and Now" in Journal of Management Inquiry. Download his presentation "Then and Now: The Maturing Field." Read an interview with Royston Greenwood by Pondy Winner Laura Singleton.

2013 Ed Zajac – Download his presentation on "Reducing Certainty and Increasing Open-Mindedness." Read an interview with Ed Zajac by Pondy Award Winer Murad Mithani.

2012 Linda Argote – Download her presentation on "Learning About Organizational Learning." Read an interview with Linda Argote by Pondy Award Winner Kaisa Snellman.

2011 Joel Baum – Download his presentation on "Skew(ered): The Skewed Few and the Many." Read an interview with Joel Baum by Pondy Award Winner Chris Yenkey.

2010 Dan Levinthal – Download his presentation on "Revisiting the Problem of Organizational Goals: From Problems of Motivation to Problems of Direction." Read an interview with Dan Levinthal by Pondy Award Winner David Zhu.

2009 Christine Oliver – Her talk was published as "The Goals of Scholarship" in Journal of Management Inquiry, 19: 26-32. Read an interview with Christine Oliver by Pondy Award Winner Dali Ma.

2008 Woody Powell – His talk was published with co-authors Kelley Packalen and Kjersten Whittington as "Organizational and Institutional Genesis: The Emergence of High Tech Clusters in the Life Sciences" in The Emergence of Organization and Markets, J. Padgett and W. Powell (eds), Princeton University Press 2010. Read an interview with Woody Powell by Pondy Award Winner Elizabeth Pontikes.

2007 Ronald Burt – Read an interview with Ron Burt by Pondy Award Winner Jerry Kim.

2006 Stephen Barley – Read an interview with Steve Barley by Pondy Award Winner Chris Marquis.

2005 Joanne Martin

2004 David Whetten

2003 Michael Tushman

2002 Kathy Eisenhardt – Her talk was entitled "Organizations: Present and Future?"

2001 Jane Dutton – Her talk was published as "Breathing Life Into Organization Studies" in Journal of Management Inquiry, 12: 1-19, where it was selected as the winner of the "Breaking the Mold" Award for Best Paper in 2003!

2000 Howard Aldrich – His talk was published as "Who Wants to Be an Evolutionary Theorist?" in Journal of Management Inquiry, 10: 115-127.

1999 Bob Hinings

1998 Paul Hirsch

1997 Andy Van de Ven, His talk was published as "The buzzing, blooming, confusing world of organization and management theory" in Journal of Management Inquiry, 8, 2: 118-125.

1996 Henry Mintzberg

Mayer Zald (1931-2012)

Richard Cyert (1921-1998)

Eric Trist (1909-1993)

Robert Kahn

Karl Weick

Paul Lawrence

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