Dr Cécile Emery teaches on The Exeter MBA

Young, talented… and working at the University of Exeter Business School: MBA professor secures prestigious award

A University of Exeter Business School academic has been named on a prestigious list of the most talented young professors teaching on MBA programmes around the world.

Dr Cécile Emery, a Senior Lecturer in Leadership, has been selected by the publication Poets&Quants as one of their Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors for 2022, with the quality of her teaching and research standing out among over 2,000 nominations for 150 academics. 

“I am absolutely thrilled to receive this unexpected honour and would like to give a warm thank you to my current students, alumni, academic colleagues, and administrative staff that recommended me for this award,” Dr Emery said.

“Some chose to share with me what they wrote as supporting statement and I was thoroughly touched by their positive feedback. I also would like to thank the many incredible professors I’ve had the privilege of learning from during my academic journey, from Connson Locke at LSE who helped improve my teaching skills and confidence, to Jackie Bagnall and Alexandra Gerbasi here at the Business School.”

Dr Emery joined the Business School in 2019 and currently teaches on the Leading Self & Organisations module, part of The Exeter MBA.

She specialises in experiential learning and adopts a creative approach to discussing and reflecting on leadership, integrating games, large-scale simulations, facilitations methods, role-plays, case studies, drawings and photography, group activities, real-case consultancy, guest speakers and case studies into her classes.

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The unique approach has seen Dr Emery include professional musicians in sessions on shared leadership and team dynamics, and she even offers students a week-long leadership expedition in the Norwegian wilderness.

“Teaching on The Exeter MBA is incredibly rewarding work, Dr Emery said. “The best feeling I experience in teaching comes from seeing my students developing their self-confidence. It’s deeply humbling to witness this journey.”

Dr Emery’s research, which has been published in publications including the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology and Social Networks examines relationships in the workplace using advanced social network techniques such as - exponential random graphs and longitudinal network analysis.

Jackie Bagnall, Director of The Exeter MBA, said: “Cecile is such a dynamic and creative young teacher who is constantly finding new and engaging ways to get our MBA students to reflect on who they are as leaders and shaping their capacity to lead effectively. This is a well-deserved accolade and I offer my congratulations!”  

The annual Poets&Quants Best 40-Under-40 Business School Professors aims to identify the most talented young professors currently teaching on MBA programs around the world.

Nominated academics are evaluated by the publication’s editorial staff on their teaching (70% weighting) and research (30%).

Dr Emery’s previous career achievements include being shortlisted for Supervisor of the Year by students while teaching at the University of Greenwich, as well as winning several teaching awards at LSE.

Date: 16 May 2022