University of Richmond professors Jeffrey Harrison, management, and Julie McConnell, law, have been named Outstanding Faculty Award recipients by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
The Outstanding Faculty Awards are the highest honor for faculty at Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities and recognize superior accomplishments in teaching, research, and public service. Nominees are selected by their institutions, reviewed by a panel of peers, and chosen by a committee of leaders from the public and private sectors. Harrison and McConnell are two of 12 recipients out of 74 nominees.
Jeffrey Harrison is a University Distinguished Educator, University Distinguished Scholar, and the W. David Robbins Chair of Strategic Management in the Robins School of Business. Harrison’s primary research objective is to infuse strategic management with stakeholder theory. In addition to his many books and articles, he has co-authored more than 20 business cases with his students and added them to the Robins Case Network, a website he created in 2010. These cases have been used free-of-charge all over the world, including in Botswana, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the U.S. He has supervised 68 student consulting projects, which provide help to large, small, and non-profit businesses with operations in Virginia. Examples include the Multiple Sclerosis Society, St. Joseph’s Villa, Richmond Symphony, and the International Hospital for Children.
Julie McConnell is a professor of law and has served as the director of the University of Richmond’s Children’s Defense Clinic since 2011. She has represented children and families for more than 25 years and specializes in holistic trauma-informed representation and client-centered practice. She previously served as an assistant public defender and child abuse and domestic violence prosecutor. McConnell is co-editor of Juvenile Law and Practice in Virginia and consults as a juvenile legal system expert in criminal cases. McConnell is currently chair of the Virginia Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and the Virginia Bar Association Commission on the Needs of Children. She also serves on the boards of the Mid-Atlantic Gault Center and Housing Opportunities Made Equal.
Harrison and McConnell are the latest UR faculty to receive a SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award. Chemistry professor Mike Leopold was honored last year.