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2026-1 Best Professors

Best Professor Award – Selection Process

In the 2026-1 round of the X-Culture competition, 198 professors (including teaching assistants and assistant instructors) from 162 universities in 53 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, Top 50 professors emerged with consistently outstanding scores across nearly all dimensions.

These professors have been named Best Professor Award recipients for the 2026-1 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.

 

 

2026-1 BEST X-CULTURE EDUCATORS (ALPHABETICALLY)

  • Abdulrahman Chikhouni, Mount Royal University , Canada
  • Abhishek Raidas, Indira University, India
  • Anne Marie Zwerg, Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia
  • Anshu Arora, University of the District of Columbia, United States
  • Antonis Klidas, Pierce-The American College of Greece, Greece
  • Carlos Sempertegui, Universidad Espiritu Santo, Ecuador
  • Claudia Cafarelli, Hofstra University, United States
  • Davina Vora, State University of New York at New Paltz, United States
  • Diana Gomez, The University of Alabama, United States
  • Dina Frutos-Bencze, Saint Anselm College, United States
  • Dirk Morschett, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Ernesto Tavoletti, University of Macerata, Italy
  • Gary Shields, Wayne State University, Mike Ilitch School of Business, United States
  • Gaston De Los Reyes, Northeastern University, United States
  • Germano Glufke Reis, The Federal University of Parana (UFPR), Brazil
  • Gilberto Sarfati, FGV EAESP, Brazil
  • Helenka Hopkins Nolan, Northeastern University, United States
  • Ioanna Karanikola, Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Jay Lee, California State University, Sacramento, United States
  • Jennifer Leigh, Nazareth University, United States
  • Jennifer Pacheco, Vincennes University, United States
  • Jessica Mini, Haverford High School, USA
  • Joe Carella, Colorado State University, United States
  • Juan Gil, Butler University, United States
  • Karen Lynden, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, United States
  • Kevin Litz, Northeastern State University, United States
  • Lee Slater, Old Dominion University, United States
  • Leighton Wilks, University of Calgary, Canada
  • Lynn Leng Khim Lim, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
  • Maja Strugar Jelaca, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Economics Subotica, Serbia
  • Marcio Coelho, University of Manitoba, Canada
  • Matea Sipura, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, Croatia
  • Menita Liu, KCIS Tapai main campus, Taiwan
  • Mohan Cherian, Presidency University, Bangalore, India
  • Nataliya Acc-Nikmehr, California State University Long Beach, United States
  • Ngan Chau, University of Nebraska at Kearney, United States
  • Pawel Pasierbiak, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland
  • Philippa Dehning, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
  • Pilar Tolentino, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
  • Pooja Nikhar, Ramchandran International Institute of Management, India
  • Radmila Bjekic, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, Serbia
  • Raghu Kurthakoti, Arcadia University, United States
  • Raj Kishore Mishra, Ramchandran International Institute of Management, India
  • Rian Drogendijk, University Of Groningen, Netherlands
  • Rizwan Tahir, RIT Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Robert Warmenhoven, HAN University, Netherlands
  • Sara Easler, Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee, United States
  • Sharon Glazer, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, United States
  • Stefano Elia, Politenico di Milano, Italy
  • Stephen Njuguna Ruga, Technical University of Kenya, Kenya
  • Sumati Varma, University of Delhi, India
  • Thad Lewallen, University of North Carolina Greensboro, United States
  • Tim Muth, Florida Institute of Technology, United States
  • Xiaoyu Liu, Parent instructor, Canada
  • Yingying Zhang, International University of Japan, Japan