Fifteen years after earning her Cornell University diploma, Sharon Poczter was recognized by her classmates for her outstanding professional and societal contributions.
Poczter, now an assistant professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, joined Amit Bhatia and Itai Dinour as winners of the Class of 2001 Career Achievement Award. The award recognizes alumni who have achieved success in the areas of professional achievement, community involvement and for contributions to the vitality of Cornell.
The class solicited nominations and created an awards committee who reviewed the entries. The committee, composed of Class of 2001 alumni, based its decisions on the depth and breadth of the nominees’ contributions to society and career.
Poczter, who joined the Cornell faculty in 2011, examines bank lending in emerging markets and explores how banks influence institutional development and public policy. In addition to publishing research in peer-reviewed journals like the Journal of Financial Intermediation, and Industrial and Corporate Change, her research and insights have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and other media outlets.
She has earned acclaim for her research and teaching. In 2012 she received the University-level Merrill Presidential Scholar Teaching Award, one of the University’s highest distinctions in teaching. In 2015, she received the Douglas Nigh Award for Interdisciplinary Research in International Business from the Academy of Management, and in 2016 received the CALS junior faculty teaching award from the college.
Bhatia received his B.A. in economics at the College of Arts & Sciences. He is the owner of Swordfish Investments and the chairman of Hope Construction Materials, and has been involved in charitable organizations like QPR in the Community Trust and the Global Relief Initiative. The Amit Bhatia Libe Café on campus was named for him in 2011.
Dinour received his B.S. in industrial and labor relations. He received his MBA from New York University while working for the nonprofit City Year, and later the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust. Dinour’s expertise is in nonprofits, fundraising, community outreach, policy analysis and more.
The awards were given in a ceremony over Reunion Weekend.
