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.
2020 OMT Distinguished Scholar Award
Ann Langley, HEC Montreal
You can watch Ann's Distinguished Scholar Talk at the 2020 AOM virtual meeting here.
Past Winners
2019 Lynne Zucker, UCLA
Lynne's talk took place on Monday, August 12, 2019. as part of the OMT Distinguished Scholar Breakfast
2018 Alan Meyer - Watch the video of Alan's speech here.
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. Read Howard's interview with Pondy Award Winner Tim Pollock here.
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
1995 Andrew Pettigrew
1994 Rosabeth Moss Kanter
1993 John Van Maanen
1992 Jeffrey Pfeffer
1991 Michael Hannan
1990 Richard Cyert (1921-1998)
1989 Mayer Zald (1931-2012)
1988 Dick Scott
1987 Bill Starbuck
1986 James March (1928-2018)
1985 John Child
1984 Charles Perrow
1983 Eric Trist (1909-1993) – His talk was published in 1983 as "Referent Organizations and the Development of Inter-Organizational Domains" in Human Relations, 36:269-284.
1982 Robert Kahn
1981 Karl Weick
1980 Paul Lawrence
If you can help us confirm any of the details missing from the list above, please email omt@aom.org.