Congratulations, HCB Graduate Program award-winners!
Cheers to three graduate students and one professor for their well-deserved honors.
Exams have been taken. Projects are wrapped up. The last “i” has been dotted and “t” crossed on the final paper. Grades have been turned in, and the confetti from graduation celebrations has settled. But there is one more thing left to do before we say goodbye to the 2021-2022 academic year.
It’s time to stand up for a few Heider College of Business Graduate Program stand outs.
So, cheers to three graduate students and one professor for their well-deserved honors.
Paula Belatti, DBA, for exemplifying the Jesuit charism that distinguish an HCB business degree from others.
Nominated by her fellow graduate business students and faculty, Belatti is the recipient of the Ignite the Greatness Award. Named in honor of alumnus Charles “Charlie” Heider, BSC’49, HON’10, and his wife, Mary, HON’10, the award is given to the student who exemplifies Jesuit values, exhibits ethical business leadership and the compassion to give back to his or her community. Belatti is COO of Clove, a custom-designed shoe company for health care workers, and during the pandemic, she and her partner donated socks and shoes to frontline health care workers.
Luke Moorhead, MBA, for being an exemplary role model.
The Heider College of Business faculty recognized something special in Moorhead. Thus, they honored him with the Outstanding Graduate Business Student Award, which recognizes the student who most exemplifies the Jesuit values on which a Creighton education is built, who inspires his or her peers to be the best they can be and who exceeds all academic expectations. Moorhead served as a graduate assistant for the Anna Tyler Waite Leadership Program and student representative for the Heider College of Business Graduate Programs Committee as a graduate student.
Brandon Schiermeyer, MAC, for channeling his leadership skills into serving the marginalized.
The Master of Accounting graduate put his expertise to good use as student coordinator of this year’s VITA, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which broke records for number of clients served and amount of returns generated. This is just one reason the graduate faculty nominated Schiermeyer for the Outstanding Service Award, which is presented to the student who demonstrates exceptional leadership ability and personal commitment to community service, including service to graduate students, Creighton University or the local community.
Sijing Wei, PhD, assistant professor of accounting, for going above and beyond, consistently and cheerfully, to serve her students.
The graduate business students have spoken, and the name they are invoking is Wei. They have selected the assistant accounting professor with the Outstanding Graduate Business Faculty Award for her extraordinary dedication to her students, for exceeding their expectations in performing her job, and for leaving a lasting impression on their lives. And how does she do this? Just one example: Every semester, Wei meets with each student one-on-one for at least 30 minutes to talk, to get to know them personally, to learn about their interests, their families, their career goals and their time at Creighton.
Congratulations to this year’s student and faculty award winners. We wish you the best of luck in your careers.
