rofessor Khole Gwebu is an accomplished and passionate scholar, an excellent colleague, and a dedicated teacher, bringing the ‘complete package’ to the profession.
Gwebu’s main research focus is in the broadly defined area of information systems with application areas such as cyber security and data breach management. His research is relevant and timely given the increased interest in the field of business analytics in both academia and the industry. He has made significant academic contributions to his area of expertise and has established a notable record of accomplishment of research, as evidenced by his publication record in top-tier journals. Dr. Gwebu’s impressive research record has also contributed to the overall name recognition of Paul College and UNH externally. Recently, UNH was ranked among the top 100 research universities in Americas in the field of information systems.
Gwebu’s dedication to teaching excellence is also outstanding, spanning across seven different courses he developed at both undergraduate and graduate levels. His students unanimously indicate that he truly cares about student success, creates a learning environment that is challenging, and arms students with skills that are directly applicable in the workforce. He has been the recipient of four different teaching awards since joining UNH.
Gwebu’s accomplishments in internal as well as external service are exemplary, filled with examples of leadership roles on several occasions. Dr. Gwebu not only helped the department develop a curriculum that was modern and competitive, but he also actively helped recruit students for these programs. All these efforts lead him to serve as the chair of the department.
In addition to all his scholarly accomplishments, Dr. Gwebu is a respected member of our committee and is well-liked by his peers. Dr. Gwebu’s approach to scholarship certainly contributes to UNH’s dedication to provide the highest academic standards in- and outside of the classroom.
rofessor Jennifer Griffith demonstrates excellence in all aspects of her profession far beyond what is typically expected of assistant professors.
Griffith is a prolific scholar with 29 well-cited articles on social cogitation, interpersonal relations, and bias. Her work on the #MeToo movement provides scholarly and practical insights on sexual harassment training in the workplace. That research also led to an invitation to be a writer for Forbes on how gender impacts advancement, decision making, collaboration, and leadership in the workplace.
Griffin’s excellence as a teacher is matched by her leadership in curriculum development. She added people analytics to the typically non-quantitative organization behavior course and led the redesign of the MBA version of that course. Her multi-faceted approach to assessing and supporting students during COVID was emulated by several other faculty.
Griffith has taken on a number of leadership roles while an assistant professor, primarily related to DEI. In 2017, she was a founding member of Paul College’s DEI Committee. She and a colleague annually lead the DEI orientation program required for all Business Administration freshmen. She complied a library of DEI-related teaching materials to help her colleagues strengthen their syllabi. Since 2019, she has helped lead annual DEI training events for Paul College faculty and staff.
In addition to these accomplishments, Griffith is a supportive and engaging colleague who makes innumerable small contributions to the academic life of Paul College.
rofessor Andrew Earle is recognized as an innovative, engaged, and deeply committed teacher—at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Imagine analyzing the strategies of technology companies in class, only to have a finance director at Microsoft pop into the discussion. Or zooming with a supply chain manager at a factory in China after a lesson on supply chain sustainability. These are the kinds of real-world connections Professor Earle prides himself on integrating into his classes.
Professor Earle, who teaches strategy and entrepreneurial management and serves as the faculty director of the UNH Holloway Prize Competition, notes that he encourages students to “think bigger, be innovative, challenge themselves, and take calculated risks.” Drawing on what he valued from his own faculty as an undergraduate student, he reaches out to any student who is struggling, saying he sees a bit of himself in them. At the same time, he also goes the extra mile with the students who are deeply engaged in his class by sharing podcasts and book recommendations to “try to stoke the fire” that drives them.
One of his students wrote that, “Professor Earle is one of the best professors at UNH. He really cares about his students and is passionate about the course content being taught. His mindset of making sure his students leave the class with knowledge rather than a letter grade is exactly why he is a successful professor.”
Professor Earle is equally lauded by his colleagues. His department chair Professor Peter Lane says “Andrew is a highly skilled and inspiring teacher who consistently brings intelligence, enthusiasm, and caring to the classroom. He continually works at improving his teaching and course designs to provide our students with exceptional educational experiences. Andrew is the type of teacher that makes a student’s time at Paul College special and valuable.”