Rong Su, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship and Pioneer Research Fellow in the Tippie College of Business, has been named one of the five inaugural recipients of a University of Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award.

The award provides funding to outstanding tenured associate professors who have an established national or international reputation in their discipline and are exceptional teachers in and outside the classroom.  

Each recipient will be given $25,000 per year for three years to support their scholarly activities.

“Professor Su is an outstanding young faculty member who has already developed an international reputation in the field of management. She also has tremendous potential to continue growing and contributing as a top-level scholar. The quality and quantity of her workplaces her on a clear trajectory toward becoming truly elite,” Greg Stewart, department executive officer of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship in the Tippie College of Business, wrote in a letter of support.

Su’s research centers on individual differences as well as gender and diversity in organizations. Her work is widely cited and has received 14 grants to date. In 2020, Su became an associate editor of Psychological Bulletin, a premier journal with one of the highest impact factors in the field of psychology.

Outside of academic circles, Su has made a broader impact both nationally and internationally. She has contributed to projects to help organizations including the U.S. Department of Labor and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Assessments of vocational interests and well-being that she developed have been translated into more than 20 languages and used around the world.

In addition to receiving funding, award recipients will work with mentors to create a tailored development program. The program will identify and support future growth opportunities, including leadership training, grant writing, and support for interdisciplinary collaborations. A symposium will allow the scholars to showcase their work to the university community.

“I am delighted to present the inaugural UI Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Awards to this talented group of faculty,” says Kevin Kregel, executive vice president and provost. “It’s a meaningful way to demonstrate that Iowa values their contributions and is the place where they can find the support to build the next phase of their careers.”

Su earned a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in psychology from Peking University in Beijing and a doctorate in organizational psychology and quantitative psychology from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She joined Iowa as an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship in 2017.

Her past awards and honors at UI include an Early Career Faculty Research Award, two Tippie Research Excellence Grants, Old Gold Summer Faculty Fellowship, Mamie Phipps Clark Research Grant from the International Honor Society in Psychology, and frequent recognition by students as a professor who made a positive difference in their lives.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Snee 319-384-0010 (o); 319-541-8434 (c); tom-snee@uiowa.edu