Three honored with Poets&Quants Best Undergraduate Professor awards

Three Darla Moore School of Business professors — Joao Albino-Pimentel, Beth Renninger and Marc van Essen — were named Poets&Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors.

The Moore School is one of only two universities with three winners on the 2023 list. In addition, Renninger is the Moore School’s first female and professional-track faculty member to receive the award.

“There are a lot of firsts — and this is the thing that I always love about the Moore School — it’s a leader in many ways, including being the first and only business school named after a woman,” says Renninger, executive director of the Center for Sales Success and marketing lecturer. “Now I’m the first Moore School female professor to win this Poets&Quants honor.”

For the 2023 top 50 list, the Moore School celebrated three faculty earning the distinction. Only one other institution, the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, saw three faculty named to the list.

To attain this prestigious award, students, alumni, colleagues and Moore School leadership nominate professors to Poets&Quants, a resource that provides rankings and top-level information about elite business schools.

“I think we are in a business school where the undergraduate programs are core to who we are — some of our best programs are at the undergraduate level,” says Albino-Pimentel, international business assistant professor. “Showcasing that you have professors in your core programs who are doing very well for their students and being recognized for teaching brings great visibility to the school and adds value.”

Albino-Pimentel and van Essen work in the Sonoco International Business Department; Renninger works in the Marketing Department. While they differ in expertise and skill, they share the same passion and devotion for their students — cultivating the best future business leaders.

With Albino-Pimentel’s academic focus on global and non-market strategy, he incorporates his cutting-edge research into his teaching style, ensuring he stays at the forefront of business practices.

“The way I try to impact my students in the classroom is to use research in my teaching,” he says. “I stay abreast of the latest findings in research to integrate that in my classes so that the students are up to date rather than just using frameworks and approaches that have been developed decades ago. The best way for us researchers to make an impact in management practice, in my opinion, is to influence the industry through our students.”

International business professor van Essen, an esteemed researcher and scholar, uses his commitment to academia and all of its complexities to enrich the classroom experience for his students.

“It is a privilege to observe students develop into intellectuals who can think critically, reason and understand complex ideas during their studies at the Moore School,” says van Essen, also the Moore School’s associate dean of international programs and partnerships. “It is even more rewarding to watch them apply these skills in their careers after graduation and become successful business leaders.”

While Albino-Pimentel and van Essen incorporate their research into their teaching, Renninger — a seasoned marketer who spent 30 years at Verizon — doesn’t come from an academic background. However, she says that makes her teaching style unique.

“Verizon was my corporate proving ground for advanced learning and accountability,” she says. “I served in leadership in various disciplines: marketing, sales and operations. I bring my experience into the classroom to inform students and help them find the job and career that’s right for them. I love to be a guide for them, and while I don’t know what’s best for them, I do know how to ask questions and how to get them talking and thinking.”

To nominate a professor for the Poets&Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors list, nominations must provide detailed examples of why the professor is regarded as the best. Poets&Quants selects professors based on the nominations submitted.

Collectively, Albino-Pimentel, Renninger and van Essen received more than 100 nominations from students, alumni, colleagues and Moore School leadership.

-Christian Osborne