Best Professor Award – Selection Process

In the 2025-1 round of the X-Culture competition, 161 professors (excluding 43 teaching assistants and assistant instructors) from 161 universities in 41 countries across six continents participated and were considered for the Best Professor Award.

Approximately 120 professors excelled in their roles. Their students were well-prepared, they offered consistent support throughout the project, diligently managed administrative tasks, and fulfilled all responsibilities—from evaluation duties to service on selection committees—with professionalism and care.

We owe these professors a BIG THANK YOU! Their universities should be proud to have such outstanding educators.

While many performed at a high level, a subset of professors stood out for going above and beyond, both in supporting their students’ success and in their broader contributions to X-Culture. These individuals deserve special recognition.

Each professor was evaluated and ranked using 124 performance indicators, capturing multiple dimensions of involvement and impact.

Key Evaluation Criteria:

1. Student Performance
The most heavily weighted metric was the overall performance of each professor’s students. This included peer-rated indicators such as effort, intellectual contribution, collegiality, and individual value added to the team. Since this award ultimately reflects a professor’s ability to prepare and support students, their class’s success was central to the selection process.

2. Class Diligence
Metrics such as timely submission of assignments, completion of weekly progress reports, and responsiveness were factored in heavily to assess student engagement and task management.

3. Report Quality
While the average quality of final reports were considered, these were weighted less due to the shared authorship model (teams included students from multiple universities).

4. Instructor-Specific Contributions
Additional factors included:

• Accuracy and timeliness of student rosters and contact lists

• Depth and reliability of the professor’s evaluations of final reports

• Participation in webinars, symposia, and training material development

5. Contextual Factors
We also accounted for class size and academic level. Leading a large undergraduate course presents different challenges than working with a smaller graduate seminar. This was factored into the overall rankings.

Final Selection

After ranking all participating professors across the 124 metrics, a group of approximately 50 professors emerged with consistently outstanding scores across nearly all dimensions.

These professors have been named Best Professor Award recipients for the 2025-1 semester.

Why We Don’t Rank the Top 50

The selected professors are listed alphabetically rather than by rank. There are two key reasons for this:

1. All recognized professors demonstrated exceptional performance.

2. Rankings can vary significantly depending on how different metrics are weighted.

It is also important to note that many other professors came very close to the top tier. In fact, at least 50 additional professors received outstanding evaluations and made major contributions. However, to spotlight a more focused group of the highest achievers, we recognize the following 50 professors as this semester’s award recipients.

 

 

2025-1 BEST X-CULTURE EDUCATORS (ALPHABETICALLY)

Ana Maria Soares, University of Minho, Portugal
Anne Oestreicher, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, USA
Antonis Klidas, The American College of Greece, Greece
Ariel Blair, Weber State University, USA
Arkadiusz Mironko, Indiana University East, USA
Chris Speicher, Marywood University, USA
Claudia Barrulas Yefremian, California State University Long Beach, USA
David Allen, TCU, USA
Dhruv Pratap Singh, NEOMA Business School, France
Diana P Gomez, The University of Alabama, USA
Donata Vianelli, University of Trieste, Italy
Douglas Chun, University of La Verne, USA
Edward Andres Tamayo Duque, EAFIT University, Colombia
Eleni Didaskalou, University of Piraeus, Greece
Eric Davoine*, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Ernesto Tavoletti, University of Macerata, Italy
Fred Newa, United States International University-Africa, Kenya
Gilberto Sarfati, FGV-EAESP, Brazil
Gizem Morris, Middle East Technical University Cyprus Campus, Cyprus
Helenka Hopkins Nolan, Northeastern University, USA
Jay Lee*, California State University Sacramento, USA
Jean Simon, Instituto de Estudios Superiores en Administracion (IESA), Venezuela
Jeffrey Kappen, Drake University, USA
Jennifer Lacroix, Northeastern University, USA
Jing Betty Feng, SUNY-Farmingdale State College, USA
Joe Carella Francis, Colorado State University, USA
Jose Godinez, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
Kaimook Numgaroonaroonroj, Assumption University of Thailand, Thailand
Lee Slater, Old Dominion University, USA
Leighton Wilks, University of Calgary, Canada
Liviu Florea, Washburn University, USA
Loretta Battaglia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Lynn Leng Khim Lim*, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland
Martha Maznevski, Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada
Mary lou Cunanan, Professional, The Philippines
Matea Mijatovic, School of Economics and Business, Croatia
Menita Liu, Kang Chiao International School Taipei Main Campus, Taiwan
Mikayla Raines, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, USA
Monika Sulimowska-Formowicz, University of Economics in Katowice, Poland
Monika Wojtas, Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Poland
Pawel Pasierbiak, Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Poland
Pilar Tolentino, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
Pooja Thakur-Wernz, Washington and Lee University, USA
Raghu Kurthakoti, Arcadia University, USA
Rian Drogendijk, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Richa Awasthy*, Edward Andres Tamayo Duque, India
Rita Koris (co-teachers Agnes Pal and Gabor Rethi ), Budapest University of Economics and Business, Hungary
Sara Easler*, University of Tennessee, USA
Sharon Glazer, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, USA
Stefano Elia, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Szonja Jenei, Szechenyi Istvan University, Kodolanyi Janos University, Hungary
Thad Lewallen, UNCG, USA
Tito Francisco Solano Roa, Universidad EAN, Colombia
Yingying Zhang, International University of Japan, Japan

 

*Top 5 in overall performance rankings