As reported earlier this year, McIntire Professor Kisha Lashley has been named one of the 15 inaugural Shannon Fellows awarded by UVA’s Shannon Center for Advanced Studies as part of Executive Vice President and Provost Ian Baucom’s new program recognizing faculty excellence demonstrated by those in the middle of their academic careers. A recent reception hosted by the Center honored Lashley and the other members of the Shannon Fellows cohort.
Nominated by the deans of their respective schools, the first group of Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellows represents faculty from nine of the University’s schools. The fellowship supports tenured faculty members notable for making significant contributions to their departments and schools but are not yet chairholders of endowed professorships.
“It is such an honor to be a part of the inaugural cohort of Shannon Fellows,” Lashley says. “This recognition is truly humbling, and I am grateful to the Provost and his team for their foresight in identifying mid-career as a pivotal transition point for many faculty, and for generously providing resources to aid in that transition. I am also appreciative of my Dean [Nicole Thorne Jenkins] for her support.”
Lashley, who earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at the Commerce School in 2021, teaches strategic management and entrepreneurship, drawing on her startup experience and pre-academic work in coordinating buyer-supplier relationships. Her expertise in organizational social evaluations, encompassing topics such as stigma, reputation, and status, often in the area of startups, is reflected in her published research, which includes a paper in Organization Science that examines the use of soft power by women- and minority-owned firms to manage relationships with larger business partners and another discussing the stigma surrounding the U.S. medical cannabis industry, published in Administrative Science Quarterly.
As a Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellow, Lashley receives funding to advance her research, scholarship, or special projects. Over a three-year period, the Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellows will come together to share their work and deepen connections with colleagues across Grounds.
“An added reward of this recognition is the opportunity to engage with the other fellows from across Grounds,” says Lashley. “I am inspired by their remarkable work, and I look forward to learning from them.”
