BAM2026 Conference Award Ceremony

The British Academy of Management made a series of awards during our 40th Annual Conference at the Royal Holloway, University of London, to celebrate outstanding contributions made by business and management scholars, not just through their research but also the important contributions to society they have made.
 

Companionships

Two people were made Companions of BAM, a way in which our community honours those who have provided leadership in management practice or thought, or development of the field and its diverse community.

They are:

Dr Rita Gardner - Chief Executive, Academy of Social Sciences

Vanessa Wilson - Chief Executive, University Alliance

Dr Molly Morgan Jones - Director of Policy, The British Academy

Fellowships

We award Fellowships to recognise leading scholars in our community, who have a strong international profile of high-quality research and who have made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of BAM.

This year we welcomed eight Fellows to the College: 

Prof Sally Dibb FBAM
Chair of Marketing and Society, Manchester Metropolitan University

Prof Viktor Dorfler FBAM
Professor of AI Strategy, University of Strathclyde

Prof Qile (Horace) He FBAM
Professor of Strategy and Performance Management, University of Derby

Prof Stefanie Reissner FBAM
Professor of Organization Studies, Durham University

Prof Sarah Robinson FBAM
Professor in Human Resource Management, IÉSEG School of Management

Prof David Sarpong FBAM
Professor of Strategy and Organization, Aston University

Prof Rudolf Sinkovics FBAM
Professor of Strategy and International Business, Durham University

Prof Tim Vorley OBE FBAM
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, University of Hertfordshire
 

Medals

As part of our 30^th anniversary celebrations, we created a set of medal awards to provide public recognition for important contributions made by our members and others. Nominations are made by Council, Fellows and SIG Chairs and are reviewed by a committee. 
 

BAM Medal for Leadership

The BAM Medal for Leadership is awarded for sustained and outstanding leadership of, and contribution to, the academic community by a BAM member. This year, there are three recipients of the award:

Prof Stephanie Decker - Professor of Strategy, University of Birmingham, for her leadership on the BAM Executive, co-chairing the Research and Publications Committee, leading on the Business Research Unpacked (BRU) initiative, and as a member of the BAM Fellows College Dean’s group.

Prof Pawan Budhwar - 50th Anniversary Professor of International HRM, Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor International, Aston University, for his leadership across BAM over several years, particularly through his role of the Bam Executive co-chairing the Research and Publications sub-committee. Pawan has also made a significant contribution in leadership through his involvement in INDAM and ongoing work with the Chartered ABS-India Dialogue.

Prof Stefanie Reissner - Professor of Organization Studies, Durham University, for her leadership as Chair of the BAM Grants Scheme for several years, as well as having a significant contribution as a Fellow of the Peer Review College.
 

BAM Medal for Knowledge Development

The BAM Medal for Knowledge Development is awarded for sustained, outstanding contribution to the development and dissemination of management knowledge by a BAM member.

Prof Kate Black - Professor of Management Learning and Education, Northumbria University.

Prof Ashley Roberts - Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Assistant Dean (Internationalisation), Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

Kate and Ashley were nominated for their sustained and longstanding commitment to longstanding commitment and leadership of the Management Knowledge and Education portfolio within BAM.
 

BAM Medal for Contribution to Communities

The BAM Medal for Contribution to Communities recognises the important contributions contributed to a SIG or Network in an outstanding and sustained way, setting an excellent example of leadership that fully reflects BAM’s value. This year, the award has been given to four people:

Prof Jonathan Liu - Professor, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, for his longstanding contribution to BAM through the SIGs, and through supporting BAM Council over several years, as well as leading and supporting on several BAM programmes. 

Dr Russ Glennon - Reader in Public Management & Strategy, Manchester Metropolitan University, for his outstanding contribution on leading the Communities portfolio for several years on the BAM Executive, and formerly for his role as Chair of the Public Management and Governance SIG.

Dr Keith Glanfield - Senior Lecturer in Marketing Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University, for his leadership of the Marketing and Retail (SIG) and his role in developing and supporting then partnership with the Marketing Trust and establishing the new joint grant scheme.

James B. Johnston - Lecturer, University of the West of Scotland, for his outstanding contribution to BAM over several years, firstly as Treasurer and latterly through his involvement in co-facilitating the Continental Network and Management Consultancy Network. 
 

BAM Medal for Research

The BAM Medal for Research is awarded for sustained, original contributions to management research by a BAM member.

Prof Geoffrey Wood - Professor and DanCap Endowed Chair in Private Equity, and Department Chair DAN Management at Western University in Canada

Prof Wood was nominated for his substantial scholarly contribution and wider service to the academic community through publishing, editorial leadership and broader leadership roles in BAM and the sector. 

John G. Burgoyne Memorial Prize for Management Learning

This new prize has been created in memory of Professor John Burgoyne, a Fellow of BAM who sadly passed away in 2023 and who left a significant academic legacy in advancing management learning. This award aims to celebrate those making a significant and sustained contribution to the field.

From a strong field of nominations, the judges unanimously agreed to award the John G Burgoyne Award for Management Learning to Prof Veronique Ambrosini, Professor of Management at Monash University, Australia, in recognition of her contribution to research and practice, which has shaped the field.

Cooper Medal for Outstanding Leadership and Contribution

The Cooper Medal for Outstanding Leadership and Contribution is awarded for exceptional leadership within, and contribution to, the British Academy of Management.

This year, the Medal was presented to Prof Emma Parry, Professor of Human Resource Management, Cranfield University, for her amazing leadership of the Academy over the past four years.
 

BAM 40th Anniversary Medal

As part of our 40th Anniversary celebrations, the British Academy of Management has introduced a special award. The 40th Anniversary Medal is part of our continuing efforts to acknowledge the full range of contributions that have made BAM what it is today. In 2024, we were pleased to recognise the role of our first CEO, Madeleine Barrows.

This year, we are proud to award the 40th Anniversary Medal to:

Justina Senkus - Director of Operations, British Academy of Management, for her leadership, which has been instrumental in ensuring our flagship conference continues to grow and remains a welcoming environment for management studies scholars to share ideas.

Lewis Johnson - Conference and Comunities Manager, British Academy of Management, for his central role, over his 12 years with BAM, in delivering every aspect of BAM's offering to its members.

We are grateful to Justina and Lewis for the dedication, professionalism and good humour with which they have delivered BAM's mission and supported our diverse and growing community. 
 

Education Practice Award 2026

The BAM Education Practice Award competition was established in 2016 to recognise individual and team initiatives that enhance management learning and education.

The Winner of the Experienced Career category was Salford Business School (Divya Sandeep Patel, Ruth Hudson, Anjana Basnet, Hazel Squire) for their project 'Embedding Carbon Literacy in Postgraduate Business Education: A Curriculum Integration Model'

The Runners-up of the Experienced Career category was Amira Chaabane for their project 'Leadership in Extreme Situations (LES) Challenge: an immersive, experiential, and inclusive educational initiative for developing crisis management, leadership, and communication capabilities in second-year engineering students (M1)', and Yu-Yu Chang, for their project 'Curiosity-Catalysed, Practice-Based Entrepreneurship Education: A Sustained Programmatic Innovation in an International MBA'

The Winner of the Early Career category was Jing Niu, for their project 'AI Scaffolding for Graduate Employability: A Website-Building Initiative for Postgraduate Digital Marketing Students'

The Runners-up of the Early Career category was David Yarwood, for their project 'Becoming Professional: A Recruitment Cycle Simulation for Business Undergraduates', and Jiayan Huang, for their project 'Critique the Critic: Fostering Students' Critical Evaluation of AI Feedback'

Best Reviewer Award 2025

We established Best Reviewer awards to recognise outstanding service as a reviewer for our journals.

The winner of the British Journal of Management Best Reviewer for 2025 was Dr Miikka J. Lehtonen, The University of Tokyo College of Design.

The winner for our International Journal of Management Reviews Best Reviewer for 2025 was Dr Marco Balzano, University of Trieste.

Most awards are considered by a specially convened Awards Committee following a process of nomination and its recommendations are ratified by the BAM Executive. Companionships are agreed by the Executive. Fellowships are considered by the Dean’s Group of the Fellows College. The Education Practice Awards is an open competition for BAM members, and entries are considered by a panel of Deans. The Best Reviewer awards are agreed by each journal’s editorial team.  

All photos from the BAM2026 Conference can be accessed via our Flickr account.