Schabram named “Favorite Business Professor” by Poets & Quants

Kira Schabram, an assistant professor of management at the UW Foster School of Business, has been named to the Poets & Quants list of “Favorite Business Professors of the Class of 2020.”

Poets & Quants, the influential business school site, annually picks a select group of faculty from across the United States who go above and beyond to inspire undergraduate students.

Schabram was recognized for her preparation and passion in teaching organizational behavior.

“Dr. Schabram helped me understand a plethora more about how to identify organizational behavior or management issues and come up with theory-driven ways to solve them,” said Jackie Yeh (BA 2020), a P&Q “Best & Brightest” selection, in nominating her professor for the award. “She always seeks feedback and makes improvements immediately if she can. She goes the extra mile to help her students succeed. If I ever become a teacher, she is the one I strive to become.”

Schabram joined Foster’s Department of Management and Organization in 2016, after completing her PhD at the University of British Columbia. She made an immediate impression in the classroom.

In 2019, she received the UW Distinguished Teaching Award. At Foster, she has won the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2018) and twice received the Undergraduate Business Council’s Management & Entrepreneurship Faculty of the Year Award (2018, 2019).

It might be because Schabram views teaching as more than just the transfer of knowledge. “My philosophy is informed by my research on positive organizational scholarship, which is about human potential, virtue and thriving,” she says.

So, coursework is geared toward individual discovery, of uncovering powerful career matches. Students report that Schabram focuses content on how it can be applied—in work and in life. And she makes a lecture course feel intimate, through mentorship and advocacy. She exposes students to different forms of work that might suit them, prepares them to critically analyze their career plans, and offers personal and customized insights and skills.

“Kira is the definition of what a transformational leader is and should be,” noted Kyle Philley (BA 2019) and Madison Oraivei (BA 2019). “And her positive influence is one that we hope we can live up to one day when we are in our own professions.”