Recognition and Awards Program

The Ilitch School 2025 Recognition and Awards Program recognizes our outstanding students, faculty and staff. The program includes the 25 Under 25 Student Awards, Sue Garr Innovative Teaching Award, Distinguished Faculty Awards for Research and Service, and Staff Excellence Award. This invite-only reception and ceremony for student, faculty and staff honorees was held at the Mike Ilitch School of Business from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 17, 2025. 

A special thank you to our gold level sponsors: Northwestern Mutual and Warner, Norcross and Judd as well as our green level sponsor: KPMG.

View the 2025 Recognition and Awards Program Flickr album.

25 Under 25 Awardees

Established in 2016, this award recognizes graduate and undergraduate students who have demonstrated success in at least two of the following categories: academics, leadership, professional development and/or campus/community service. This year, due to an outstanding pool of candidates, 27 students were selected for this prestigious award. 

The awardees are listed below. They were selected by a panel of executive judges from AAA – The Auto Club Group, Ally, Amsted Automotive Group, Comerica Bank, the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Regional Partnership, FastTek Global, RKT Holdings, Fortium Partners, GM, Little Caesar Enterprises Inc., Olympia Development of Michigan, Rocket Mortgage, Ryder Systems Inc. and Verde Capital Management. 

Meet the 2025 class of 25 Under 25 awardees

Staff Excellence Award

This award recognizes members of the Ilitch School administrative staff who demonstrate exceptionalism in the workplace in one or more of the following areas: job knowledge, quality of work, teamwork, and innovation and adaptability.

Staff Excellence Award Recipient: Bianca Fielder

Bianca Fielder ‘21 is a university councilor II with the Ilitch School Career Services Office. She joined Career Services in 2019, after earning a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 2012, and an M.B.A from Wayne State University in 2021. 

Fielder plays a key role in organizing workshops and employer engagement events to drive student retention and success. She leverages data to evaluate outcomes and strengthen employer partnerships and designs forward-thinking initiatives that increase student engagement with career services. 

A passionate advocate for student success, Bianca is a co-advisor for the Wayne State University chapter of NABA Inc., where all are welcome. She also serves as the program administrator for the Advancing Career Experience (ACE) mentorship program under the College-to-Career initiative and actively contributes to several student-focused university-wide committees.  

In addition to her advising responsibilities, Bianca teaches BA 1000: Student Success and Career Development to undergraduate and dual-enrollment high school students. Fielder believes in the power of collaboration among educators to inspire growth and drive lasting impact on the student experience. 

Staff Excellence Award Recipient: Heather Laskos

Heather Laskos ‘97, ‘98 is an academic advisor IV, in the Frederick Hessler Student Success Center at the Mike Ilitch School of Business. Laskos has been an academic advisor at the Ilitch School since 2014, starting as an advisor I and progressing to advisor IV in 2024. Laskos earned a BSW from Wayne State University in 1997, and an MSW from Wayne State in 1998. 

As an advisor, Laskos assists students with course scheduling, helps students find a path to degree completion, and connects students with campus resources. She also helps advise accounting students on how to meet the CPA exam requirements. 

In addition to advising, Laskos has taught sections of BA 1000 for the last seven years, assisting students with developing their resumes, elevator pitches and LinkedIn profiles. Laskos was also named “Supporting Staff Member of the Year” by Wayne State Housing Offices for the 2019-2020 academic year, and was part of the 2021 Outstanding Advising Team awarded by the Advising Training Academy. 

 Sue Garr Innovative Teaching Award

This award recognizes an outstanding educator that demonstrates extraordinary and/or innovative efforts in teaching. The award was founded by the Sue Garr Innovative Teaching Fund, established in 2007 in memory of Sue Garr, who taught accounting at Wayne State University for more than 20 years.

2025 Sue Garr Innovative Teaching Award Recipient

Matt Piszczek is an associate professor of management and teaches human resource management classes at the Ilitch School. He also serves as the PhD Program Coordinator for the Department of Management. Matt has a bachelor’s of science  in psychology and linguistics, a Masters of Human Resources and Labor Relations, and a PhD in Industrial Relations and Human Resources from Michigan State University.  

Piszczek led the development of the human resource management concentration for undergraduate students, ensuring alignment with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) curriculum guidelines.  

Matt’s teaching expertise falls in the area of employee relations, and his research investigates how employees manage work with nonwork roles and how companies are responding to workforce aging.

Distinguished Faculty Awards - Research, Service, Teaching

These awards recognize three Mike Ilitch School of Business faculty members for exemplary dedication to teaching, research and/or service.

2025 Distinguished Faculty Award: Service

Tamme Quinn-Grzebyk is an associate professor of teaching in the management department at the Mike Ilitch School of Business. She focuses on delivering impactful courses for both undergraduate and graduate students in online and face-to-face environments. She has taught 13 different courses for her department and has contributed to specialized programs including the MD/MBA program and the Detroit Police Department Leadership Academy. 

Prior to her academic career, Quinn spent two decades in industry, where she honed her business skills across multiple roles, often involving technology and leadership capabilities. To complement her extensive industry experience, Quinn earned her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology with a cognate in Management from Wayne State University in 2015  

Quinn has served on numerous committees at Wayne State. Notably, she chaired both the Undergraduate Education Policy Committee and the Faculty Senate. Her service has also been instrumental in shaping key initiatives, including the launch of the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership program and the M.D. MBA program. At the university level, she is currently completing her term on the Academic Senate, where she has represented the Ilitch School on the following committees: Artificial Intelligence, Curriculum and Instruction, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Parking, and Faculty Affairs. 

Her research interests lie at the intersection of business and education, and include organizational change, leadership, and reflection. Both in research and practice, she seeks ways that individuals, organizations, and systems can learn, adapt, and evolve in response to changing circumstances. 

Quinn is passionate about sharing knowledge formally, but also with her peers. Whether assisting someone with a new online course, offering suggestions for new assignment rubrics, or helping someone learn a new technology tool, she’s always willing to help. She especially enjoys brainstorming ways to more effectively reach students and prepare them to succeed. This dedication to collaboration reflects her deep desire to help everyone progress together. 

 2025 Distinguished Faculty Award: Research

Anand Jha is a professor and chair of the Finance Department. He earned his Ph.D. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 2009 and joined Wayne State University in 2016 as an associate professor of finance. 

Jha’s research lies at the intersection of accounting and finance, with a particular focus on how social norms influence firm outcomes. His work demonstrates that firms headquartered in U.S. regions with high social capital—where cooperative social norms are prevalent—are less likely to commit fraud, produce higher-quality financial reports, receive better credit ratings, pay lower audit fees, exhibit greater social responsibility, and make superior acquisition decisions. Several of his publications are co-authored with doctoral students, including one with a Ph.D. student from the Ilitch School’s Department of Finance 

Over the past three years, Jha has published 10 peer-reviewed research articles. According to the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) list, his publications include four articles in A* journals and six in A-rated journals. Additionally, during this period, he has served as an Associate Editor for two journals and has reviewed manuscripts for journals featured in the Financial Times Top 50 list. 

2025 Distinguished Faculty Award: Teaching

Amanuel G. Tekleab is a professor of management at Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business. He earned his doctorate degree from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.  

His research interests are focused on employment relationship, particularly psychological contracts and idiosyncratic deals, social exchanges, teams and team processes, organizational change, justice, and leadership. Tekleab has presented numerous studies related to his research areas at national and international conferences, and his work has been published in management journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business Ethics. 

In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Tekleab has served in various departmental, school, university, and professional committees. Currently, he is the treasurer of the Africa Academy of Management Association, and he has served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Managerial Psychology. Currently, he is serving as an associate editor of Group & Organization, Journal of Business Research, and Africa Academy of Management.  

Tekleab has received numerous awards from academic journal publishers, Wayne State University, the Mike Ilitch School of Business, and Divisions of the Academy of Management. Recently, he has been recognized as the recipient of the President’s Excellence in Teaching award, Mike Ilitch School of Business’s Inspirational Teacher award, and is now selected to the Academy of Teachers, a prestigious Academy at Wayne State. He continues to strive excellence in teaching at all levels.