Andrew Brodsky Selected Top 40 Under 40 MBA Professor
Annual Poets & Quants list celebrates teaching excellence, research on workplace communication by assistant professor of management
For excellence in research and instruction, Andrew Brodsky, Texas McCombs assistant professor of management, was named among the 2023 Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors by Poets & Quants.
Brodsky, 35, teaches The Art and Science of Negotiation for McCombs’ Full-Time MBA Program. Poets & Quants’ selection committee received 26 separate letters of nomination from Brodsky’s students, who have consistently rated him from 4.8 to 5 points out of 5 in performance surveys since he joined the school in 2017. In 2021, he won UT Austin’s Trammell/CBA Foundation Teaching Award for Assistant Professors.
Ethan Burris, McCombs senior associate dean for academic affairs who helped nominate Brodsky for the Poets & Quants honor, pointed to the relevance and robust methodology of his published studies. “Professor Brodsky is among elite company within McCombs — a unique combination of top-notch researcher, world class instructor, and thought leader on issues that are top of mind among today’s executives: how to excel in technology-mediated environments,” Burris wrote.
Brodsky’s early research on managing idle time at work led to studies on expressing emotion virtually — studies whose findings were immediately relevant to managers and employees navigating remote work at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. His recent work includes a paper in Harvard Business Review on myths around employee disengagement, which garnered national attention after McCombs’ publicity efforts. The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Inc. magazine, among many other top-tier publications, have featured Brodsky’s research findings and expert opinion.
Media attention and Google Scholar citations were some of the criteria for Poets & Quants’ editorial staff as they evaluated more than 1,500 nominations. Each nominee was scored on teaching — given a 70% weighting — and research, weighted 30%.
This 11th edition of the Best 40 Under 40 features professors from 36 business schools — the most of any year prior — including 11 schools outside the U.S.
Dean Lillian Mills said the honor recognizes the boundless energy and curiosity that McCombs values so highly. “Andrew approaches tough questions affecting today’s hybrid workplace with inspiring creativity, being truly human-centered and future-focused,” Mills said. “I am so proud to watch his thought leadership grow so rapidly during his early years at Texas McCombs.”
Story by Judie Kinonen
