Debu Purohit Professor of Marketing	Jennifer Francis Associate Professor of Accounting
David Hsieh Professor of Finance	Ernst Maug Adjunct Professor of Finance

DURHAM, N.C. - Debu Purohit, professor of marketing, and Jennifer Francis, associate professor of accounting were co-recipients of The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching for outstanding teaching in elective courses in The Duke MBA program at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. The award was voted on by graduating second-year students and presented at the graduation ceremony Saturday.

In April, Nikolaos (Nikos) Vettas, associate professor of economics received The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching for outstanding teaching in core courses in The Duke MBA program. The core teaching award was determined by the school's first-year students, and presented at The Duke MBA Celebrate Fuqua event on April 19.

Also on Saturday, Professor David Hsieh and Adjunct Professor Ernst Maug, both of the finance department, received the Cross Continent MBA Faculty Award.

Both Purohit and Francis were cited for their impressive knowledge, engaging teaching styles and approachable personalities. "Debu brought energy, life and enthusiasm into the classroom during each high-tech marketing session," wrote one student in nominating Purohit for his Marketing of High Technology class. "In addition, he made himself readily available to students outside of class." Purohit received his M.S. in marketing and Ph.D. in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University. He has also served on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley. Purohit received the 2000 Best Teacher Award in the Executive MBA Program at Fuqua.

"Jennifer's ability to explain complex information clearly, her willingness to develop a course curriculum that is linear and relevant, her efforts to integrate current research into her teachings, and her willingness to be extremely available for all of her students make her an extremely deserving candidate for this award," wrote a student of Francis' valuation class. Francis earned a B.S. in accounting at Bucknell University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University, and she is the winner of six awards for outstanding teaching at Duke and the University of Chicago.

	Dean Doug Breeden and Fuqua student Vince Torres (left) present Nikos Vettas (center) with The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching.

"Nikos was an incredible instructor; clear and very easy to understand," wrote a student in Vettas' microeconomics class. "He made difficult concepts appear easy. The foundation he provided in micro aided me in comprehension of numerous other core concepts.... He deserves recognition for his teaching excellence." Vettas received his B.A. in economics from the University of Athens in Athens, Greece and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching is awarded annually to a Fuqua faculty member in recognition of exceptional teaching in The Duke MBA (daytime) program and is financed by a permanent endowment established by The DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Runners up for the core award were Michael Smith, Alon Brav, Pranab Majumber and Laura Kornish, who won last year's DaimlerChrysler 2001 core teaching award. Other finalists for the elective award were William Boulding, Campbell Harvey and John Lynch.

The Cross Continent Faculty Award was presented to Professor David Hsieh by Tanja Verseck, a 2002 graduate of the program. Hsieh accepted on behalf of himself and Adjunct Professor Ernst Maug, who lives and works in Europe and was unable to attend the event in person. "David and Ernst have put an enormous amount of effort into the course material," said Verseck in her presentation address. "In addition, Ernst and David have managed to provide record response time on all our questions and assignments," she added, noting that their two continent presence gave students an almost around-the-clock finance support team.

Several other Fuqua faculty awards were announced last fall. In the Weekend Executive MBA Program, Katherine Schipper, received the faculty award for core teaching, and Ph.D. candidate Emma Rasiel received the elective teaching award. In the Global Executive MBA Program, the co-recipients were Professor of Finance Vish Viswanathan and Associate Professor of Economics Jim Anton. Associate Professor of Decision Sciences Bob Clemen was runner-up.